You Set Me Free, You Give My Heart Wings
by Ms. Raye Sinic
Summary: When the CCS charas travel to Colorado to train three new magickers, problems arise between Sakura and Li. Will their love keep them together? Lots of sap and new couples appearing. This fic has finally been finished! Please R&R!
1. Chapter One: The New Powers

You Set Me Free, You Give My Heart Wings Part One: The Beginning  
  
  
  
{A'sN: If you hate inane chatter, skip all this and start readin' where it says "Chapter One:"}  
  
  
  
{A'sN: I started this fic on August 15th, so some of the beginning babbling's out-dated. Fanfiction.net's been out of commission for weeks, in case none of you noticed, and I've been away from the net for even longer! I thought I'd tell everyone about the time lag before I start.}  
  
  
  
Hi-low out there! How are all my peeps and not so peeps? My boos doin' okay, too? Good!  
  
Here I am yet again.  
  
  
  
Everyone: AHHHH!!! HEAD FOR THE HILLS!!!  
  
  
  
Ha, ha, ha. Aren't we the funny ones?  
  
  
  
Everyone: Yes.  
  
*SIGH* O-well, this is Raye Firearrows again, coming smack at ya from my com, from my house, from my room. Ain't I the clever one? *SIGH* I'll start this fic out with some ground rules and info. 'Kay?  
  
First off, this fic is somewhat like a sequel to my fic Sakura in Paris 2, the fic with Shawn and Garlin in it, the one with all the funny chatting?  
  
Well, I've been hankering to write a serious romance and magic fic, and I wanted to write a CCS one with Shawn in it, so Madison has a guy. So pity and humor me, and please read the fic. I'm trying my best on it. And I can almost swear that this fic'll be longer and better than Sakura in Paris and Sakura in Paris 2. Hopefully, the chapters will be longer, too. I hope.  
  
Secondly, I hope everyone'll stick by me if it takes FOREVER for my chaps to get out, because I have limited access to the net. I can only download chaps if I'm done with 'em by the weekend and my dad wants to humor me and take me into work with him, for the only internet I can use is at my dad's office. *SIGH* I know I lead a pathetic, dismal life. But maybe if everyone's really nice to Pappy Dearest, I'll be able to get the fic out in record time!  
  
Everyone: Yay!  
  
Well, this fic is going to have plenty of Sakura + Li, Madison + Shawn romance and mush (or at least as much as I can squeeze into my pathetic attempts at writing), since I know how much y'all just love mush!  
  
Everyone: YAY!!  
  
If none of you out there know who Shawn is and are scratching your heads right now thinkin' "Who'n the hell's Shawn?", here's a tip. *Takes a deep breath* GO AND READ SAKURA IN PARIS 2, ONE OF THE BEST FICS I'VE EVER WRITTEN!!! Sorry 'bout that. But I promise that even if none of you like the story itself, the chatting's hilarious. I wrote it with some inspiration from my friends. And in case some people out there are wondering how the hell I came up with such kooky crap (i.e. Psycho's cousin the Blair Witch, Psycho's brother Chucky the Killer Doll, blowin' up Mac and Cheese trucks, being chased by werewolves on our way to the Mexican and U.S.A. state-line. . .), I'll let you in on my little secret. All of it's true!! Straight from the heads of Psycho and Max and Lizzie {E-Gods!} and out onto paper. Scary, ain't it?  
  
This fic is gonna have magic and romance abounds, and maybe you'll all get lucky and Li'll propose to Sakura-  
  
Everyone: YAY!!!!!!!!!!!!!  
  
But I'm not promising anything. Sakura and the gang (Li, Madison and Shawn) are in college, and are about twenty. Some new sorceresses and a new sorcerer will show their faces, and an all new baddie'll become clear as well! Garlin may or may not show his scaly, ugly mug (No offense, Gar), and the CCS Gang may or may not go to America. And one or two people may or may not  
  
die. . .  
  
O-well. Let's get on with the fic!  
  
Everyone: YAY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!  
  
Ameoba Boy (muttering darkly): It's about time. . .  
  
  
  
Author's Notes- {A'sN}  
  
Italics- ~word~ {A'sN: I don't know how to get italics to show up . . .}  
  
Bold face- WORD {. . . or bold face}  
  
Quotes or speaking- "word"  
  
Thinking and Thoughtspeech- word  
  
{A'sN: I am not switching POV's around, it's just too confusing for my itty- bitty-chibi brain. So it's all gonna be in third-person. Sorry.}}  
  
Enjoy! *(^.^)*  
  
  
  
{Disclaimer}  
  
And now, yet again (God help us), From the Head of Heather(Max)!  
  
Bomb Squad: If you see me running, try to keep up.  
  
Mom and Dad said I could be anything I wanted, so I became a jackass.  
  
ESCAPEE. You haven't seen me.  
  
I used to be a schizophrenic, but we're okay now.  
  
And Daddy, they took my boot! {A'sN: from Tarzan}  
  
And Raye don't ever own CCS. There. That about takes care of my improper English for the day.  
  
  
  
  
  
Chapter One: The New Powers  
  
  
  
A fire blazed up before her, blindingly bright. The girl shielded her eyes with a trembling hand as she took a stumbling step backwards.  
  
  
  
Where was she? Besides the comforting familiarity of the blazing fire, she couldn't feel or see anything around her but cold, empty darkness.  
  
  
  
A coldness surrounded her, clutching painfully at her heart.  
  
  
  
"Wh-where am I?" Her voice sounded hollow and empty, even to her own ears, echoing out into the void of nothingness. She could not even see what sort of ground she stood on, it was so covered with darkness and shadows.  
  
  
  
The girl looked down as she blinked back tears of fear, and gave a little start and gasp or surprise. She had never seen the white gossamer dress she now wore! Where was she?!?  
  
  
  
"My dear child." A soft kindly voice whispered from the darkness as a form pulled free from the grasping shadows and walked closer to the shivering girl.  
  
  
  
"Who are you? Where am I?" she whispered.  
  
  
  
The man smiled gently. His silver-white hair shone almost unnaturally, drifting down to touch the invisible ground. His white beard was nearly as long, dangling slightly above his feet. He was dressed in stark mid-night blue robes, unadorned and undecorated. To the girl's eyes, he looked feeble and ancient, thin and wrinkled with pale white skin equaling his beard in color. But his eyes were a deep, unfathomable blue that twinkled, as deep and dark as the clearest, unclouded night sky or the deepest, darkest ocean. Those eyes held such a life in them, she was sure the man was both older and younger than he looked. He seemed to radiate strength and comfort. There was certainly nothing decrepit or weak about this man.  
  
  
  
"My child," the man began with a chuckle that warmed the girl's cold heart. "I can certainly answer your first question. Most call me Father Time, but I believe Father Magic is a much more appropriate and proper name for myself."  
  
  
  
"I . . . I don't understand," the girl stuttered out in confusion.  
  
  
  
The man sighed softly. "Time and magic have always been, and always will be, intertwined with one another. In a sense, they are somewhat the same thing. Time and magic both are never-ending, always repeating. What has lived, will be lived again. What will be has already been. And what has been given will never be taken."  
  
  
  
"I'm sorry," the girl whispered contritely. She never spoke higher than a whisper, even when not pressed with such strange circumstances. "I still don't understand. . ."  
  
  
  
The man smiled knowingly. "You will fully understand with time, my child, as hard as that may be for you to hear. You have a great gift, one given to you in lifetimes past. A time is coming for you to use your gift, so I have brought you here, to the Sacrem, while you sleep, in order to reawaken that gift. Look into the fire, child. Look deeply within it. Tell me, what do you see?"  
  
  
  
The girl squinted against the intense light of the fire, her eyes watering painfully. For some reason unknown to her, she felt as if she had to oblige this strange fellow.  
  
  
  
"I see. . . A silver moon. . ." she whispered out.  
  
  
  
The man smiled widely, looking immensely pleased. "That is it, child! That is your gift!"  
  
  
  
The girl was struggling to comprehend the meaning of this, but a sudden warmth welled up inside of her, friendly and comforting.  
  
  
  
"I can tell by your expression that you are feeling your gift for the first time, child," the man said sagely, still smiling in a pleased way. "You will be much stronger than I thought. You will have good teachers."  
  
  
  
"But what is my gift?" the girl asked, bewildered. The man smiled knowingly.  
  
  
  
"You will know when the time is right. The others shall be arriving soon to help you master it. Now, you must hurry and return to your body. Souls can only reside in the Sacrem of Diadem for so long. It shall be morning soon. Oh, I am loathe to leave you now, small child, but I must go and hurry! I've not much time before sunrise, and it all must be finished ever so soon!"  
  
  
  
With a blinding flash of light, the friendly man disappeared, leaving the girl to return to the familiar blackness of sleep, to dream of her new magic.  
  
  
  
  
  
Patience woke with a start, staring around her comforting room. Was it all just a dream? A strange dream, but a dream none-the-less? But it couldn't have been! It had been so strange and profound; it couldn't have been a mere dream.  
  
  
  
Patience sat in her bed, leaning her back against the plush blue and silver pillows. It was an hour or so before sunrise; her room was still bathed with peaceful moonlight. The moonlight further enhanced the colors of her room, which pleased Patience's artistic taste to no end.  
  
  
  
Unlike her sister Hope, Patience loved the cool, dark colors of the night. Her strange, crescent-shaped room was decorated with pale silver paint coating the walls, and the mid-night blue window drapes pooled elegantly on the blue wood of the floor. Patience only had one window in her somewhat cramped room, but she liked the one window better than the windows that filled Hope's room. Her window was tall and narrow with elegant drapes, but Hope's far wall was crammed with short, squat, bare windows that faced the east, in order to catch every drop of sunlight. Patience's bed was just perfect for her size, and painted a shining silver over the already bright metal of the bed stand. Her bedcovers were dark blues and velvet purples. Her ceiling was painted purply-black, dotted with stars and a giant crescent moon. Neither Patience nor her sister Hope had closets; it was impractical in such small rooms. Instead, they had large wardrobes and dressers that held their clothes. Patience's room was further crowded with an immense bookshelf, crammed so full of books she couldn't fit another if she tried. Her cluttered writing desk was littered with papers and crunched up balls of failures. Her pens and pencils rolled about from the slight breeze blowing in through the open window. The drapes fluttered and waved in the wind.  
  
  
  
Patience thought her room was perfect, and could almost always find a muse within it while she was writing her stories. Her room was so artistic and fanciful, which suited the young author perfectly.  
  
  
  
She yawned and stretched. Some people probably though it strange that she still lived with her parents, her twenty-first birthday having just come and gone. But the college she attended was so close to her parent's house, the house was already large enough to pass off for a mansion and no one but she and her sister ever wished to take the tiring trek up the spiral staircase that led to their tower rooms. They had enough privacy, and she was running short on cash anyway. She severely doubted she would have been able to pay rent if she was living on her own. She had just been fired from her last job that night before, and she had yet to tell her parents.  
  
  
  
Patience sighed at this unpleasant task. She would certainly have to tell her parents this morning, but it would so put a damper on her day. Could Patience really help it if she was so shy she'd rather die than walk to the cashier's counter and tell people, "Welcome to McDonalds, can I take your order?" She had been born shy and uncommunicative, and by God above, she was going to die shy and uncommunicative.  
  
  
  
In that one small aspect she envied her sister. Hope was so bubbly and talkative; she had no problem with dealing with people. In fact, Hope was hopelessly blunt and direct when it came to people. But since she was also so friendly and happy, people always forgave her that one small fault. Hope was captain of her Debate Team at the Artistic Guild, and Patience could always feel the green-eyed monster of jealousy eating her alive when Hope returned from Debates bubbling with news of the friends she had just made.  
  
  
  
Patience firmly pushed those thoughts away and crawled out of her luxuriously comfortable bed. Patience's mother Jade was always so extravagant in everything she bought for her family. "Only the best for the ones I love!" she'd announce cheerfully after returning home from a shopping spree with every credit card she owned maxed out to its fullest. But then, Jade always had more money than she could ever spend, locked safely away in the bank. Jade was a best-selling author of fantasy- romances, and if the family ever ran low of money, she could always sit down and create yet another masterpiece.  
  
  
  
And then Patience's father, Josuah, was an architect, and always brought home big bucks as well. That was probably why they could afford such a large, splendid house out on the fringe of the woods in Colorado. In fact, this very house had been created by Patience's parents. Jade had used her creative ability to create the dreamy aspects of the mansion-like house, and Josuah had drawn up the blueprints and had started construction with one of his best buddies, who just happened to own the construction business that built the houses Josuah designed.  
  
  
  
All in all, it seemed as though Patience had the perfect life. Both she and Hope attended a private college, the type where you had to have the big bucks to get in. Hope had never been shunned and outcasted as the rich girl, her bubbly personality working to her advantage. The entire college loved Hope, but alternately hated Patience. She was always so quiet and unobtrusive, so excluded from everything. Everyone thought she felt too snobbish to make friends with anyone. If only they knew that that was how Patience was. You had to struggle to break down her barriers, and even then she could still pull back into her shell.  
  
  
  
Patience quickly dressed, pulling on a dark blue skirt and long- sleeved white blouse. Like her room, Patience's wardrobe was filled with whites, silvers, blues, purples and blacks. Patience dressed as solemn and sedate as she felt. She hastily brushed through her waist-long black hair, sighing deeply. Everyone said she was beautiful, but she didn't think so. Her black hair was so straight no perm would ever hold, and it always managed to escape from every style she'd struggle to put it into. So every day she wore her hair the same; straight with two small braids down either side of her face. She straightened her tangled bangs, and peered into the mirror hanging above her purple-painted dresser. Solemn green eyes, cool and shy, peered back at her. She sighed again. She was so plain, with her cold green eyes, straight, boring black hair and pure-white skin. She sometimes wished she could tan like Hope, but then thought against it. Tanning gave you sun-poisoning, anyway.  
  
  
  
She slipped on her black boots and pulled up her knee-high black socks. Scooping up her blue jacket that matched her skirt, Patience straightened her bed covers and opened the only door to her room.  
  
  
  
Her room was crescent shaped, as was Hope's, for coming in straight through the floor of the tower was an immense bronze spiral staircase. Patience shut her blue door, straightened the small plaque hanging from it with her name emblazoned across it in black letters, and started down the staircase, sighing. Patience liked to sigh quite often, thinking it one of the few things she was good at.  
  
  
  
Hope was clearly still asleep, judging from the snores blasting from the brightly painted room. Her yellow door was trembling slightly, her gold and green plaque shaking every few seconds. Patience hid a smile and continued down the stairs.  
  
  
  
Hope woke with a crash. Literally. She had tumbled from her bed, pulling her ample covers along with her into her head-long dive for the gold-painted wooden floor. She groaned and sat, rubbing at her curly head. She was going to have a monster of a bump in a few hours.  
  
  
  
Hope stretched and yawned until her jaw hurt, then stood and scratched at an annoying tickle on her back. The sun was up and shining merrily, blazing in blindingly through the many windows that coated the wall opposite Hope's green-painted door. She had so many windows lining her wall that there was no space between each one, and she only had one large curtain that she could pull on rollers across the entire wall. The curtain was a deep forest green, and so thick not even a trickle of sunlight could fight through the folds of material after Hope had pulled the curtain across.  
  
  
  
Falling backwards, Hope lay on her bed, staring up at her ceiling. She could never tire of staring up at the ceiling. Her father, who had quite an artistic streak in his blood, had painted it for her. It was a pale blue, with fluffy cotton clouds you could almost touch and a shining sun hanging in the far east corner. Birds flew across the sky, giving the nineteen-year-old the inexhaustible feeling she herself was flying.  
  
  
  
A small bell, like the ones that lined the school halls, above her door rang loudly, starting Hope out of her daydreams. "Yes?"  
  
  
  
"Breakfast is ready, Mop." Hope could barely hear her older sister's whisper through the door, but clearly heard the nickname.  
  
  
  
"Be down in a sec, Silent One!" Hope called cheerfully.  
  
  
  
Patience winced at the rather loud call, then hurried down the staircase. Hope would take much more then a sec if she knew her sister at all. She'd probably start daydreaming and get off track halfway through dressing.  
  
  
  
Hope piled her gold and green covers onto her bed, plumping the giant yellow pillows atop the messy mound. Hope never had time to properly make her bed, leaving the mess for her mother to clean on her daily rounds of the house.  
  
  
  
Inwardly, as Hope scrambled beneath her bed in search of her wily, elusive shoes, she was glad it was summer break. She always had such trouble with getting to school in time, and Patience was always gone by now for her early morning study sessions. Hope thought her quiet, shy older sister was crazy to wake every day before dawn, even in the summer, for she loved to sleep as late as she could manage.  
  
  
  
In a bright contrast to Patience's calm room, Hope's room was coated with bright yellows, golds, greens, oranges and pale blues. Her walls and covers were yellows and golds, her ceiling blue, her curtain and sheets green, her floor a burnished orange-like gold. Her wardrobe was green in color, her dresser orange, her immense, sagging bed a gold-orange. The inside half of her door was green, the outside half gold. She also had a bookshelf like her sister, but not one fantasy book graced the rather dusty shelves. Instead, Hope's artistic creations filled the shelves. Beads and clay rolled from the bookshelf as Hope hopped about in a vain attempt to shove her feet into her black boots. Another small bookshelf squatted squarely beside the taller shelf, filled with her nature finds from when she had ventured out to explore in the woods. Pinecones, nests, arrowheads, eggshells, snake skins, bird feathers, and a squirrel and raccoon tail hung limply over the shelf.  
  
  
  
Hope finally finished dressing. She wore a dark green pair of shorts and a spaghetti-strapped gold top. Her wardrobe was filled with the bright colors she liked, and not a one shirt was dark or depressing. She hurriedly buckled on a belt and stuffed her short white socks into the depths of her boots, the way she liked them. She then grabbed a brush and began her daily wrestling match with her unruly auburn curls. By the end of each match, her hair had always won and would be a giant fuzz-ball of frizzes, which further enhanced her nick-name of Mop. Her ice-blue eyes twinkled merrily as she tossed the broken brush away carelessly, gave up her hair as a lost cause, and settled with ferociously driving a handful of spike-like pins into the curls in an attempt to somewhat tame them.  
  
  
  
Finished with her appearance, Hope scooped up her half-filled sketchbook and bag full of pencils and erasers and burst raucously from her room. Without a thought for her safety, Hope dove towards the staircase, promptly beginning her daily breathtaking slide down the winding banister.  
  
  
  
"WAHOOOOOOOO!!!!" Hope cried as her hair was whipped about, hair-pins flying in her wake. With a whoosh, the nineteen-year-old shot off the end of the banister, skidding across the redwood floor, leaving twin black streaks from her boots in her wake unnoticed.  
  
  
  
Patience sighed into her porridge as Hope skidded into the room, hair once more wild, eyes flashing with excitement and tanned cheeks flushed.  
  
  
  
"Hello all!!!" Hope said in her carefree way as she shot over to her seat between Patience and Josuah in the rounded table. "It's gonna be a beaut of a day!!"  
  
  
  
Jade hid a smile behind her spatula. "Aren't we in a good mood today?"  
  
  
  
Hope nodded eagerly as she helped herself to a pile of pancakes from Josuah's plate, right under the furiously-drawing architect's nose. "I'm gonna go out and sketch in the woods. Patience, you wanna come with?"  
  
  
  
Patience sniffed into her porridge as Hope stuffed an appallingly large amount of syrupy pancakes into her mouth. "I think not. I'm going to the Library today. Pappy's going to drive me over."  
  
  
  
"But it's only a couple miles away!" Hope complained through a mouthful of pancakes.  
  
  
  
"Hope, chew with your mouth closed," Josuah ordered absently as he tried to eat his fork instead of his sausage.  
  
  
  
Jade quickly took the fork from Josuah and spun it about. "Honey, please put up your plans and eat correctly."  
  
  
  
"Can't," Josuah mumbled.  
  
  
  
"I'm not as athletic as you, Mop." Patience murmured as she opened her new Mercedes Lackey book.  
  
  
  
Hope hurriedly ate the rest of her pancakes, then waited impatiently for Jade to stack more on her clean plate. "I had the strangest dream last night."  
  
  
  
Patience's head snapped up from a romance scene between Darkwind and Elspeth. "What kind of dream?"  
  
  
  
Hope's brow furrowed for a moment while she chewed reflectively at her pancakes. Hope had a horrible memory for events, but a photographic memory for people and wildlife scapes. "There was this old geezer in it that said his name was Father Time. . . And I don't remember much more. Except that I looked into a fire and saw a sun floating in it. Strange, isn't it?" The girl then returned to her meal, completely forgetting the dream.  
  
  
  
Patience's mind was working unusually fast. Both she and Hope had had the same dream? What did it mean?  
  
  
  
"Honey, you're chewing on your coffee mug," Jade said gently to the preoccupied Josuah.  
  
  
  
  
  
Sage rubbed at his burning eyes, stretching widely with a yawn. What a strange dream. But that man, Father Time, had been very friendly. In fact, that was one of the first time anyone had been friendly towards Sage, in dreams or no. Everyone had always looked at Sage with distrust, for hitch-hikers were never up to any good.  
  
  
  
Sage stood with a weary yawn, dusting the sand from his jeans as he began his daily trek alongside the highway. Running a hand through his unruly black hair, Sage allowed himself a sigh of longing and regret.  
  
  
  
Wouldn't it be wonderful if magic were real? Even better, if Sage had magic himself? But the young man pushed the thoughts away ruthlessly and reshouldered his faded gray backpack.  
  
  
  
He had no time to waste on such childish fantasies.  
  
  
  
  
  
Well? You like it? If anyone's wondering where Sakura and the others are, don't worry. They'll be in the next chapter for sure. This chapter is sort of the prelude, just to introduce Patience and Hope and Sage. Don't forget about them, cause they're especially important for this fic!  
  
More coming up! Love and Bubbles, y'all! 


	2. Chapter Two: The New Powers Are Discover...

You Set Me Free, You Give My Heart Wings  
  
  
  
I'm ready to write! Let's get this show on the road and not waste any time!  
  
Everyone: YAY!!!!!  
  
Oh, shut up.  
  
  
  
{Disclaimer}  
  
Raye: Quiet!! Quiet everyone!!! I have an announcement to make!!  
  
(A silent hush falls over the land.)  
  
Raye: I have some heart-rending news for all of you-  
  
Ms. Sinic: They've cancelled Cartoon Network?!?!  
  
Max: Michael Weatherly {Logan from Dark Angel} and Brendan Fraser were just killed in car accidents?!?!  
  
Psycho: It's against the law to worship the Blair Witch?!?  
  
Ameoba Boy: No one likes me?!?!  
  
Sakura: Ghosts are real?!?!?!  
  
Li: Sakura's moving to Antarctica to get away from me?!?!  
  
Madison: Camera's have been prohibited?!?!?  
  
Raye (somewhat dazed): None of that's true, except for yours, Ameoba Boy. No one really likes you.  
  
(Ameoba Boy runs off sobbing his buggy eyes out.)  
  
Raye: What I was trying to say is I don't own CCS.  
  
(Everyone stares at her in disbelief.)  
  
Everyone: THAT'S IT!?!?!? THAT'S NOT ONLY PATHETIC, IT'S STUPID!!!  
  
Raye (*SNIFF*): You don't need to crush me. . .  
  
  
  
  
  
Chapter Two: The New Powers Are Discovered...  
  
  
  
Sakura Avalon was lazing in her college dorm room, lying on her back on her top bunk bed, her legs dangling over the bed's side. Sakura had not changed much over the years. She was still very cheerful and still a bit clumsy. Her emerald eyes were exactly the same as always. The only visible differences were that Sakura was taller and her hair longer. Her honey- brown hair now came down to her shoulders, curled gently inwards. But at the moment, Sakura wasn't worried about anything to do with magic, the fate of the world, her looks or even her boyfriend Li.  
  
  
  
She sighed.  
  
  
  
"I'm bored, Madison!!" Sakura whined.  
  
  
  
Madison, who was sitting beneath Sakura, rubbed furiously at her camera lens with a cleaning cloth. "Go and call Li." Madison's voice was bland as she suggested this, for this was the only thing she ever suggested that Sakura should do when she was bored.  
  
  
  
"I already did but he won't be over for a whole 'nother six minutes!" Sakura complained, pulling her legs up and dangling her head over the side so she could see Madison.  
  
Madison sighed and snapped the lens-cover over her new camera. "Then sit patiently and wait! Patience is a virtue, you know."  
  
  
  
Sakura sighed as if her world was coming to an end. "Yes, but it's not one that I possess."  
  
  
  
Sakura and Madison were roomies in their small college dorm room in Tokyo. With some money from Madison's mom, they had managed to secure one of the only two-person rooms their college dorm had. Madison's taste in decorating and Sakura's favorite colors mixed in certainly made the room look quite interesting. Madison had designed and made the strangely shaped curtains for their one large window, and Sakura had picked out and bought the pink and green rug. Madison had painted each wall different, with assurances to their landlady that the paint was easy to cover with even more paint, and each wall was either pink, green, purple or blue. They had one giant closet in the room, and the door was painted a dark gold in color. Sakura's bed covers were pink, Madison's were blue, and the only other furniture in the room was a decrepit armchair, their tiny TV and its stand, and a small whicker-like table beside the bunk-beds. Madison had released her artistic ability whenever she was bored, and by the painted and stickered TV and TV stand, Madison was bored quite often. All in all, their room was among the strangest anyone had ever seen. Ever.  
  
  
  
Going to college in Tokyo was fun, but awfully lonely, for Sakura and Madison took all their classes early in the mornings, which left the rest of their days free for leisure. But, this far from home, there wasn't much they wanted to do. They'd explored and shopped around the city until they had it practically memorized (as well as succeed in blowing all of their money), and even though Li and Shawn were both going to the same college as the two girls, the boys' classes were all in the evening, which made it difficult to get together. Add all this onto Sakura's job at a nearby Dairy Queen, Li's job at a car wash and Madison's job at the local library, and there was rarely ever ANY time to get together. Luckily, summer break was a week away, and Sakura was looking forward to it with all her heart. Not only would she have more free time to spend with Li and hang out with Shawn and Madison, but Julian was coming to spend the summer in Tokyo. Sakura was looking forward to seeing Julian, as well as Yue. She'd been feeling strangely restless lately, and was positive Yue would know the answers why. Kero was always too busy eating or sleeping to speak with her that often, and the Guardian of the Clow had no idea why she was feeling so restless, anyway.  
  
  
  
Madison winced and plugged her ears with her fingers as Sakura squealed in happiness, bounding off the bed without using the ladder, as they heard a knock on the door.  
  
  
  
"LI!!!!" Sakura squealed as she threw open the door. She paused in mid-leap and blinked. Standing in the doorway was not Li, but the landlady of the dorm building. Sakura took a step back, blushing with embarrassment.  
  
  
  
"Oh, um, sorry, Ms. Meto. I thought you were-"  
  
  
  
"Your boyfriend Li, of course," Ms. Meto said with a stern glare over her crescent spectacles. "I don't know what the world's coming to these days."  
  
  
  
Madison pushed the stammering Sakura aside and bowed apologetically to the strict old woman. "Please forgive Sakura, Ms. Meto. She's been drinking Mountain Dew with pixie stix again."  
  
  
  
"Oh," Ms. Meto said knowingly, nodding her head. "I see. Well, it's good to see at least some young people still have their manners about them. The mail just came and you both have letters, Ms. Taylor. I thought it would be proper if I brought them up to you." Ms. Meto gravely handed the polite Madison three envelopes and bowed. "I'll leave you two now to whatever you were doing." She sounded very suspicious. "And, Ms. Avalon?"  
  
  
  
"Yes?" Sakura squeaked out embarrassedly, still beet-red.  
  
  
  
"I think it would be best if you stayed away from the Mountain Dew and pixie stix from now on." With this, the woman swept out. Madison swung the door shut behind her and handed Sakura her two letters.  
  
  
  
"That old bat!" Sakura complained venomously as she retreated sulkily to her bed with her letters. "Everything has to be proper or she loses it!"  
  
  
  
Madison sighed. "She's an old woman set in her ways. Give her the benefit of the doubt, Sakura."  
  
  
  
Madison's letter turned out to be from her mother, informing Madison that she was sending a new state-of-the-art, top-of-the-line video camera with infrared sensors, twice the tape space and a new slower slow play button to her. Sakura's letters were from her father and Tori, her father's asking her politely how college life was, and how she and Li were getting along. Tori, very briefly, wanted to know if the Brat was bothering her, and if so, if she wished him to do anything about it. But the most of his letter was telling her how Julian was coming out on a plane in two days, a few days earlier than they had planned, for Julian had suddenly had the urge to hurry to Tokyo. He asked her to meet him at the Tokyo National Airport at 12:00 p.m. on Monday.  
  
  
  
Just as they had finished with their letters, there was yet another knock at the door. Madison answered it this time.  
  
  
  
"Hi, Shawn, Li. Come on in." Madison said politely, opening the door wider. Shawn paused to give Madison a quick kiss on the cheek before following Li inside.  
  
  
  
"Hi, Li!" Sakura said cheerfully as she climbed down the ladder.  
  
  
  
Li flashed a smile so quick Sakura barely caught it, but that was Li. "What've you got there?"  
  
  
  
Sakura looked down absently at the letters she still held. "Oh, just some letters from home. Dad wants to know how things are going and Tori wrote to tell me that Julian's coming early. He's arriving Monday."  
  
  
  
Shawn dropped into the large, sagging armchair that Sakura had found in a discount store and had bought against Madison's deepest wishes. For some odd reason, Sakura loved the ugly plaid and beige chair. "Did your Mom write you, Madison?"  
  
  
  
Madison nodded and perched herself on the chair's armrest beside Shawn. "She sent her love."  
  
  
  
Li sat on the edge of Madison's bed, and was promptly joined by Sakura. She sat beside him and took his hands in hers before he could react.  
  
  
  
"Li, I've been Sensing something lately."  
  
  
  
Silence fell over the room. Shawn and Madison looked over at the pair expectantly. Li studied Sakura for a moment.  
  
  
  
"You don't know what it is?"  
  
  
  
Sakura shook her head with a heavy sigh. "It's very faint, but even faint it's strong. I was hoping you knew what it was."  
  
  
  
Li paused for a moment, closing his eyes in concentration. He sighed and opened them a second later. "I can Sense it, too, but it's too faint for me to follow or identify."  
  
  
  
Shawn's hand crept into Madison's. "Good or bad?" The young man had already had his shares of runaway magic, having a strange sort of magic himself.  
  
  
  
Sakura shrugged candidly. "But it's so far away, I don't think we need to worry about it just yet."  
  
  
  
"Yet." Shawn echoed hollowly. Madison shivered.  
  
  
  
"What if it's something like Garlin, only not as benign?" Madison whispered fearfully, squeezing Shawn's hand for comfort.  
  
  
  
Sakura shrugged while Li sighed. "Shawn, when was the last time you contacted Garlin?"  
  
  
  
Shawn thought for a moment before answering. "It must have been a month ago. He told me he had just befriended a homeless girl in Asia."  
  
  
  
"Do you feel up to contacting him again? Garlin's magic can spread fairly far." Sakura suggested gently. She knew Shawn didn't like to use his magic, for fear it might accidentally escape his control, but his magic was the only way to contact the OtherWorld creature named Garlin. Garlin in fact was a creature Shawn had created in lifetimes past, the result of a magical mistake. Shawn had once been an apprentice to Clow Reed, but had died after trying vainly to create a Clow Card. The half-made Clow Card had escaped, later becoming a creature named Garlin, and the magic used to make him that had been released created another dimension parell to this one, a realm called Frainria, where Garlin now lived. Years ago, after Shawn and Madison had first met, Garlin had returned to relcaim his Master Shawn, and in so doing had very nearly killed Madison. But Garlin had repented his sins and was now using his strange magic to help the friendless in the world.  
  
  
  
Shawn sighed and nodded as firmly as he could. "I should be alright."  
  
  
  
A hushed, expectant silence fell as Shawn closed his eyes and searched with his strange inner magic for Garlin's presence.  
  
  
  
"Shawn Nicolus?" Garlin's surprised voice echoed in Shawn's mind. "What is it?" Garlin knew how much Shawn dreaded using his magic.  
  
  
  
"Garlin, we all need to talk to you. Are you busy? Do you think you can reach us soon?" Shawn answered with his mind.  
  
  
  
For an answer, Garlin's presence disappeared. Shawn slowly opened his eyes and rubbed at them as a popping noise filled the air. A swirling black vortex appeared, hovering where the door had been moments ago. Garlin stepped through the vortex and waved a crabbed, black-clawed hand. The vortex disappeared with another pop, leaving the black gargoyle-like Garlin in its wake.  
  
  
  
Garlin hopped forward a pace, cocking his head curiously. "Why is it you wish for me to come here, Nicolus? What is so very important and distressing?" {A'sN: If any of you out there are wondering why Garlin's calling Shawn Nicolus, Nicolus Otien was Shawn's name in one of his past lives, the life that Garlin remembers the most vividly. Madison's name had been Kanthel Otien back then, and she and Shawn had been married. Nowadays, Garlin still calls Shawn Nicolus.}  
  
  
  
Sakura immediately took it upon herself to inform the demon-like Garlin. "Li and I can Sense a strange force, a magic force, that's very faint yet strong. We wish to know who the force is from, and whether or not we could trust them."  
  
  
  
Garlin nodded knowingly, knowing perfectly well what Sakura meant by "trust". "And my magic's the most far-Sensing. Well, I'll need an hour or two of meditation, and then I should be able to locate the magickers. Will that do?"  
  
  
  
Sakura and the others nodded in relief. "Yes, very much so. Thank you, Garlin."  
  
  
  
Garlin grinned lopsidedly as he settled himself crosslegged on the floor. "No problem. Although, if you had been more patient and waited a couple more days, Yue could have told you. He's on his way to tell you himself."  
  
  
  
Sakura groaned as Garlin slipped into a deep trance. Madison glanced over reprovingly at her.  
  
  
  
"I told you, Sakura, patience is a virtue."  
  
  
  
  
  
Kero floated into the dorm room, phasing through the walls, a large Popsicle held tightly in his tiny paws. Kero's face with purple stained from the Berry-Blast Popsicle, but the look of complete bliss more than made up for the stickiness of Kero's face.  
  
  
  
With an almost audible screech, Kero ground to a stop in mid-air. A spiny head was blocking his progress.  
  
  
  
"Oh, hi, Garlin." Kero mumbled around the Popsicle he had just shoved into his mouth.  
  
Kero continued on floating over towards Sakura and Li, who were lounging on the floor, watching tv. Shawn and Madison sat together in Sakura's armchair a few feet away, whispering to each other.  
  
  
  
"Sakura, what's Garlin doin' here?" Kero asked as he licked the Popsicle stick clean and began struggling to clean his face with his tongue.  
  
  
  
"Oh, he's searching for the sources of those strange magics I was feeling," Sakura said diffidently in a bored way, flicking to yet another bland infomercial channel.  
  
Kero froze in mid-lick. "The strange magics?"  
  
  
  
Sakura nodded as she struggled vainly to stifle a yawn. "He's been in a trance for almost an hour looking for them. He's almost done."  
  
  
  
As if summoned, Garlin's eyes snapped open and he slowly stood, stretching aches from his bent back. "I've found them. I know who the magickers are, but I believe Yue should at least inform you on that small information when he arrives in a couple days. This much I will say; they're no threat to any of you, two of the magickers have magic similar to Sakura's, and the third has magic like Li's. And I personally think you should take them under your wings, so to speak. They've just stumbled onto their magic, and uncomfortable things are sure to happen if you don't."  
  
  
  
"Thanks, Garlin!" Sakura said as she sat up. "Can we do anything for you?"  
  
  
  
Garlin smiled. Despite his frightening looks, Garlin couldn't help but look friendly when he smiled.  
  
  
  
"Just convince Nicolus that he has a firm rein on his magic and convince him to Call me more often." Garlin said with a grin and a wink in Shawn's direction. "Now, if you'll excuse me, I've really been away from Frainria too long. I actually may start fading if I don't return soon."  
  
Li nodded in agreement. Garlin certainly did look paler than usual. "Thank you for the help, Garlin. And we'll try to Call you more often."  
  
  
  
Garlin grinned and snapped his fingers. With a pop, the vortex appeared once more.  
  
"Goodbye, Nicolus, Kanthel." Garlin said politely to Shawn and Madison as he jumped through the swirling hole.  
  
  
  
  
  
Sakura and Madison burst into their room with a bang. Dropping their book-filled bags, the two collapsed in a tangled, extremely weary pile atop Madison's bed.  
  
  
  
"I can't believe that five hours can last so long!" Sakura groaned bitterly.  
  
  
  
"I thought the professors were finally going to let us relax! It's completely inhumane to torture us with more work when we've only four more days left before break." Madison sighed as she rubbed at her sore neck.  
  
  
  
The door suddenly swung open as Shawn and Li entered. "We met Ms. Meto at the front door and she said you were already home. Have you guys gone to pick up Julian yet?" Shawn asked as he promptly dropped into Sakura's armchair.  
  
  
  
Sakura and Madison sat bolt upright, guilty, panicked expressions on their faces.  
  
  
  
Li groaned as he looked down at his watch. "You BOTH forgot?!? His plane should have come and gone already!!"  
  
  
  
"Maybe if we hurry, we can get to the airport in time-" Madison began frantically hopeless, freezing in mid-sentence as someone knocked loudly at the door.  
  
  
  
Sakura groaned as she stood and went to answer it.  
  
  
  
"Julian!!!" Sakura exclaimed happily in surprise. "Oh, we're so sorry we didn't come to pick you up-"  
  
  
  
Julian grinned at Sakura's flustered apology. "That's okay, Sakura! I knew how to call for a cab. I almost expected you to either forget or be an hour late, given your record."  
  
  
  
Before Sakura could shut the door behind Julian, Kero hovered out of the cracked open closet, where he had been napping.  
  
  
  
"I need to speak with Yue right now!" Kero said sharply.  
  
  
  
Sakura sighed and shut the door as Julian was enveloped in glowing white wings. "Kero, you didn't even give me a chance to properly welcome Julian!"  
  
  
  
Kero snorted as Yue's wings unfolded. "You can do all that later. This is more important."  
  
  
  
Yue gravely crossed his arms and fixed Kero with an especially icy look. "I agree with Sakura. Julian was tired from that plane flight."  
  
  
  
Kero waved a stubby arm dismissively. "Later. Fill us in with what the heck's going on with these strange new magickers."  
  
  
  
Yue sighed. "Ever the blunt one, eh, Keroberos?"  
  
  
  
"Just answer the question," Kero replied coldly.  
  
  
  
Yue's eyes closed for a brief moment. "Hmmm. They are growing more powerful than even I had anticipated. And at a faster rate, as well."  
  
  
  
"Who are they?!?!" Kero screamed impatiently, a vein popping out on his forehead. The Guardian of the Clow had become fairly eaten alive with curiosity after Garlin's visit.  
  
  
  
"They are three young Americans, hasty Keroberos," Yue said icily. "The two stronger Powers are sisters, one with the Sun's magic, the other with the Moon's. And the third is a young man with elemental magic."  
  
  
  
"Elemental?!?" Li exclaimed in surprise.  
  
  
  
"Sun and Moon?" Sakura repeated confusedly. "But those are my magics!"  
  
  
  
"Well, owe wise Yue, what should we do about these new Powers?" Kero asked snidely. "Garlin thinks we should guide and teach them."  
  
  
  
Yue sniffed. "He would. But I actually believe this is indeed the best course of action. These three are strangely powerful, and new to their gifts. Something may happen beyond their control."  
  
  
  
Kero nodded in agreement. "And we must also take into consideration the fact that if we sensed them, others with magic probably have as well. And it may not be wise to leave such naive powers unguarded against darker forces."  
  
  
  
  
  
Patience was sitting out on the roof of the tower, staring up at the starry velvet sky. Everyone in the house below were most assuredly deep asleep, but Patience had no wish to retire to her own bed. It was much nicer to lay out here and think at night.  
  
  
  
"Moon magic's power . . ."  
  
  
  
Patience started as a wind ruffled her hair. Did she imagine that strange, breathy voice? She must have.  
  
  
  
"Try something, Moon-girl."  
  
  
  
She looked about wildly. There it was again! But what was it? Another wind rustled by, carrying the voice to Patience's ears once more.  
  
  
  
"Are you afraid of the taste of power, Moon-girl?"  
  
  
  
Patience felt a surge of anger well up inside of her, created by the mocking tone of the whispered words. "Go AWAY!"  
  
  
  
With an almost audible snap, the wind died away, the sound of it whistling through the tree tops fading into hushed silence.  
  
  
  
A cold chill around her heart, Patience carefully climbed down the tower top, through her window and into her room.  
  
  
  
It had been unsettlingly uncanny the way the wind had stopped when she spoke . . .  
  
  
  
How is it? Even slightly interesting? I sure hope so. For all of those out there begging for romance and mush, read the next chapter! Li and Sakura scenes, Madison and Shawn scenes, and maybe someone will meet their soulmate next chapter . . .  
  
But I'm not promising anything! I may or may not change some things around before the story's ending.  
  
Any ideas or suggestions? REVIEW! 


	3. Chapter Three:Anxieties and Soggy Books

You Set Me Free, You Give My Heart WingsPart One (Contin.): The Beginning  
  
I'm sorta depressed right now, because as I am writing this, I am realizing I have little less than three days left before my High School Years start . . .  
*SNIFF!* I don't wanna go!! Mommy, I don't wanna go to school today! I wanna stay home and bake cookies with you!! {from Space Jam.}  
O-well. Let's get this started and over with. Hopefully I can keep my mind off school while I'm writin' . . .  
Hopefully.  
  
{Disclaimer}  
I'm well known for my pity parties. Probably because my friends and I can always find a reason to be sad . . .  
I'm sad today because: School is coming soon,  
because Micheal Weatherly is getting married to Jessica Alba,  
because I've only got one more episode of "Witchblade" before it's the season finale,  
because 08th MS Team ended crappily,  
I've no hope of ever getting a boyfriend,  
and because my hair looks icky today.  
Oh, and because I can no longer claim ownership for the CCS characters. I tried to for a while, but now I own little more than the clothes on my back and the computer I'm using.  
Let that be a lesson to all you delinquents out there! Crime and stealing doesn't pay! *(^-^)*  
  
  
Chapter Three: Anxieties And Soggy Books...  
  
Sakura and Li were out walking in the park a few blocks away from the college dorm building. Li was sighing more often than he usually did, and Sakura looked over at him in concern.  
"Is something wrong, Li?"  
Li sighed again and shook his head slightly. "I've just been thinking about what Yue and Kero suggested."  
"About us going to America next week?" Sakura asked, puzzled. "But didn't we all agree it was the best thing to do? I think it sounds like fun! I've never been to America before."  
Li sighed again as they sat on a park bench beside the marble fountain. "It does sound like fun, Sakura, but the whole reason we're going is to find and teach the new sorceresses and sorcerer. Don't you think that sounds like hard work? We're going to have to convince them that they have magic before we can get to work teaching them, and don't you remember how hard it was for Kero to convince you you had magic?"  
Sakura studied Li for a long moment. "That isn't the only reason you're so worried. What is it? What's got you nervous?"  
Li stared over at the fountain for a long moment. "I don't think my mother's going to approve of this trip."  
Sakura sighed and took hold of Li's hand. "Why wouldn't she?"  
"She's been wanting me back home in Hong Kong for years now, Sakura. I've always been able to argue away her pleas, but she's been becoming more and more insistent as time passes. She always let it drop before because she knew I couldn't bear to leave you and the others, but now, even with such a valid cause, she may not want to let me go."  
Sakura looked down at the pebble-strewn pavement. "So what do you plan to do? We need you to come, Li. Yue said the boy has elemental magic, and it would be best if you taught him." Sakura paused and squeezed Li's hand gently. "And ~I~ need you to come."  
Li looked down at Sakura's hands around his and groaned. "I don't know what to do, Sakura. Mother can be as stubborn as me when she wishes, and I know she'll dig her heels in this time."  
Sakura looked over at the fountain. "Well, I can think of something, but it's not the nicest thing to do."  
Li looked over eagerly. "What is it?"  
Sakura blushed slightly. "You could send her a letter as soon as we reach America telling her it came up so suddenly we had to leave before you could contact her. That way she can't really oppose you going, can she? Just stress that it's really important, almost life or death."  
Li laughed slightly. "I never knew you could be so coniving, Sakura!"  
Sakura looked down at her watch and groaned. "I've gotta get home. It's past ten already, and I still have to study for this last freak test Professor Ojiwa's gonna throw at us tomorrow."  
The two stood reluctantly. "Sorry, Li."  
Li smiled. "That's okay, Sakura. We'll have all summer and thensome together in America."  
Sakura grinned and pulled Li closer. "Goodnight."  
The brief goodnight kiss that Sakura had intended to give Li quickly turned into something much longer and deeper. Sakura's arms somehow found their way around Li's neck, pulling him closer, just as Li's arms circled Sakura's waist. The two stood there for a long moment, the moonlight filtering down through the thick foliage and the trickle of the fountain peaceful in the background tangled together.  
Sakura slowly pulled away, bit by bit, her arms slowly lowering. Li stepped back with a sigh, reluctantly releasing her.  
"Goodbye, Li." Sakura whispered as she hurried off.  
Li watched her go before sighing again and walking off in the opposite direction. "Sweet dreams, Sakura."  
  
Madison giggled as she leaned back against the wall and pulled Shawn closer. "Shawn, I don't understand problems 4-12. Could you help me with my homework?"  
Shawn grinned and allowed himself to be drawn closer. "And what type of homework would that be?"  
"Physical science." Madison whispered with a giggle as she pulled the boy into a kiss.  
Kero woke with a jaw-cracking yawn. The Guardian of the Clow had fallen asleep on Sakura's armchair shortly after Julian {a winged Yue would have been too hard to explain to the ever watchful Ms. Meto} had left to find his apartment. He immediately groaned as he saw Madison and Shawn, deeply engrossed with one another and leaning against the far wall.  
"Madison?" Shawn whispered as they paused to breathe.  
"Hmm?" Madison asked with a dreamy look on her face.  
"What time is it?"  
Madison nonchalantly looked over at the clock. "10:30." She quickly pulled Shawn back into another kiss. "You know I love you, don't you?"  
"Of course," Shawn replied through another kiss. "And you know I love you, don't you?"  
Madison smiled. "I knew that when you went willingly with Garlin to save my life."  
"Um, Madison?" Kero said hesitantly, floating over.  
"Hmm?" Madison asked.  
"Isn't the curfew for the dorm 10:00?" Kero spoke up.  
Madison's eyes snapped open as Shawn pulled away. "SHIT!"  
Just then, there was a knock on the door. Madison paled visibly as she pushed Shawn into the open closet. "Hide! If it's Ms. Meto, we're screwed!"  
Shawn obediantly fell silent as Madison slammed the door shut and hurried to answer the door.  
"He-hello, Ms. Meto." Madison stuttered out as she saw the grim, unfriendly face of the landlady.  
"Hello, Ms. Taylor," Ms. Meto said, looking past Madison suspiciously. "I thought I heard someone up here with you . . ."  
Madison shook her head so furiously her hair flew about. "That was just the tv."  
Ms. Meto narrowed her eyes unbelievingly. "Well. . . If you say so, Ms. Taylor. I better be on my way. I've four more rooms to check." Ms. Meto's eyes narrowed again. "Where's Ms. Avalon? Shouldn't she be home by now?"  
Madison groped for an excuse. "She went out for a walk an hour ago, so she should be on her way home by now, Ms. Meto." A muffled sneeze from the closet made Madison break out in a cold sweat at the thought of Shawn being discovered by harsh, unrelenting Ms. Meto, who was such a stickler for rules and regulations.  
Ms. Meto sniffed airily and turned. She had obviously not heard the sneeze. "Well, goodnight then, Ms. Taylor."  
"Goodnight, Ms. Meto," Madison said quickly in relief as she slammed the door. A moment later, Shawn stumbled out of the closet, rubbing at a reddened nose.  
"I dink I'm allergic to dust," Shawn said with another sneeze. Madison cracked the door and peered down the hall. The coast was clear; Ms. Meto had disappeared up the next flight of stairs in search of prey.  
"Hurry!" Madison hissed. "I'm sorry about this, but we'll both be in major trouble if Ms. Meto finds you!"  
Shawn disappeared down the hall, passing a distracted Sakura as she climbed the stairs to her room.  
"Is something wrong, Sakura?" Madison asked as she shut the door behind Sakura and rubbed furiously at her smeared lipstick in an attempt to wipe it off.  
Sakura sighed. "Li's depressed and worried because he doesn't think his mom will agree with him coming with us to America."  
Madison sat beside Sakura as she dropped dejectedly onto the bottom bunk bed. "But why wouldn't she? It's a perfectly liable reason to go."  
"It's hard to explain," Sakura said with sigh, laying back with a groan. "Life's never perfect, is it?"  
Madison sighed wistfully as she thought of Ms. Meto's untimely interruption. "Preach it, sister."  
  
Sage dropped with a weary sigh onto the sheltered bench underneath the overhanging awning.   
To answer the unspoken mental question, a peal of thunder rolled overhead. Sage groaned and pulled on a faded Cardinals cap.   
Sage studied the small street he was sitting alongside as the rain pattered down. This town may actually be larger than he thought, but this street was clearly one of the oldest. The buildings lining the severely pot-holed street were all old and decrepit looking, their paint peeling and signs faded. The one building that he could see that looked at all in good repair was the antique-looking Library, its double front doors edged in twin roman-like columns. The street was fairly unoccupied; the stray car or hurrying person was the only sign of life on the otherwise life-less street.  
Sage leaned against the damp bench backing with another sigh, completely prepared to wait out the rain. While he waited, he puzzled over his no-money delimma.  
I suppose this town's as good as any to find a job in. Maybe I'll get lucky and stay awhile. And hopefully nothing strange'll happen this time. . .  
For the past two weeks, strange things had been happening to Sage and whoever was around him at the time. First, there had been the tree that had just burst into flames by the side of the road. Then there had been the miniture earthquake that sank the truck he was traveling in a foot into the sandy ground. And the last and most recent thing, just two days ago even, had been the strange, powerful wind that had blown up out a perfectly clear sunny day, forcing Sage to shelter in a gas station until it had passed for fear of an oncoming tornado.  
  
All in all, Sage's luck hadn't been the greatest.  
Sage looked up as someone burst out of the Library at a fast pace, banging the doors loudly against the walls. She looked about his age, with long black hair. She was dressed all in blue, and ran with head-bowed across the street, a book clutched close to her.  
Sage winced sympathetically as the girl stumbled and fell into a lake-sized puddle. She sat back on her knees slowly, staring down in dismay at her soaked clothes. Just then she saw her book, lying half-submerged in the puddle. With a sniff, she pulled it from the water and looked down at the soppy wreckage.  
"I was only three chapters away from the end!"  
  
Sage couldn't stand to see someone so upset; he pulled his Cardinals cap down tighter and ventured out into the downpour.  
Patience looked up at the sound of an unfamiliar voice. "Do you need some help?"   
A boy her age stared down at her with questioning eyes. She'd never seen him before. He was dressed in baggy khakis, a faded and wrinkled red t-shirt, and an old Cardinals cap didn't manage to keep every bit of unruly black hair beneath it. Friendly hazel eyes met Patience's cat-green.  
Not for the first time in her life, Patience blushed and bowed her head in embarrassment, her ability to speak having fled to the far reaches of the earth.  
Sage extended a hand, which the girl slowly took. She seemed unusually shy to Sage's open personality. "Are you okay?"  
Patience nodded numbly. Sage nodded and turned to go.  
Patience surprised herself by asking, "You're not from around here, are you?"  
Sage turned with an open smile. "Do I not look like the guys around here?"  
Patience blushed. "No, it's just that I know most everybody in town."  
Sage nodded in understanding. "It's an awfully small town."  
Patience nodded in agreement.  
"My name's Sage." Sage said, holding out his hand. Patience hesitantly shook it with a shy smile. She was oblivious to the rain pouring down at her, soaking her clear through.  
"My name's Patience," she whispered out.  
Sage smiled. "Patience suits you perfectly."  
Patience blushed. "Are you just passing through, Sage?" But despite these reasonable, cautious thoughts, Patience couldn't help but warm to this friendly boy. She'd never really had anyone to talk with outside her family; was she so desperate for company she'd talk with a complete stranger?  
Sage shrugged. "Maybe, maybe not."  
Patience looked down at her watch and groaned.  
"What?" Sage asked.  
"My mother's going to kill me! I'm three hours late!" Patience hurried off, flashing Sage a somewhat warmer smile as she disappeared. "It was nice meeting you, Sage."  
Sage smiled and waved. "You too, Patience." He retreated to the sheltered bench with a whirling mind.  
  
  
Patience was halfway up the stairs when Hope's head appeared at the summit. As the curly-headed girl leaned dangerously over the railing, she studied Patience silently.  
"Mammy's mad, y'know. Why are you so late?"  
Patience sighed as she climbed the last three steps. "Don't be so suspicious, Hope, it doesn't suit you at all. I just lost track of the time."  
Hope sighed as she followed Patience to her door. "You always do when you get into a good book." With a gasp of dismay, Hope pointed down at the water-logged book Patience still carried. "How'd that happen?!?"  
Patience looked down at her book with sorrowful eyes. "I was only three chapters away from finishing, and I tripped and fell in a puddle."  
Hope looked Patience up and down with a critical eye, from the squelching boots to the dripping-wet skirt and jacket. "So it looks." Hope looked up and stared.  
"What?" Patience asked, worried.  
"You're smiling!" Hope breathed in awe. "You never smile! What happened?"  
Patience's smile disappeared. She hadn't realized she was smiling . . . "Nothing really, Mop."  
Hope crossed her arms as a stubborn look overtook her. "I am so not buying that, Silent One. Spill, and now."  
Patience sighed and leaned against the wall beside her door, oblivious to the wet-mark she was creating. "After I fell, this guy helped me out."  
"Oooh!" Hope giggled, her eyes shining. "Who was he?"  
Patience shrugged. "Said his name was Sage. A stranger to town, just passing through," Patience added firmly as she saw the all too familiar scheming look fill Hope's eyes. "So no ideas."  
Hope sighed and closed her eyes. "I can imagine him right now . . . Tall, with a friendly air about him, with dark black, tousled hair, and friendly hazel eyes-"  
Patience jumped and stared at Hope in surprise. "You're right! How did you know?!"  
Hope opened her eyes slowly, a strange look crossing her face. "Patience, what was Sage wearing?"  
"Khakis, a red t-shirt, and a Cardinals cap. Why?" Patience said in worry, the strange look on Hope increasing in intensity.  
"Patience, when I saw Sage in my mind, he was wearing the exact same clothes." Hope's voice sent chills up and down Patience's spine.  
"But, how?" Patience asked weakly.  
Hope shrugged, for once at a loss. "I don't know, Silent One."  
The two stood there silent, before Patience laughed. "We're scaring ourselves witless. It's just a coincidence."  
"A coincidence?!?" Hope exclaimed. "That's one damned close coincidence!"  
"Quiet, and watch your language!" Patience reprimanded. "I mean, come on, Mop. What other explanation is there?" Patience said sarcastically as she clopped into her room and shut the door behind her. "Magic?"  
  
Patience sat at her desk and stared down mournfully at her water-ruined book. "I just got this yesterday, and already I ruined it." Patience heaved a suffering sigh. "Poor Winds of Fury. What would Mercedes Lackey say if she saw the sad state one of her books was in?"  
Patience absently opened the book and peered down at the runny pages. The water had completely ruined the ink. Patience pressed a fingertip against the page and watched uninterestedly as the blackish water oozed out.  
She sighed and leaned closer to the book. "I wish I hadn't ruined you."  
Seconds after the wistful words had left Patience's mouth, the only lit lightbulb in the room, in the small lamp sitting on the desk before Patience, exploaded in a shower of sparks, startling Patience. The girl fell backwards, bumping her back painfully against the floor and her chair's backing. With a groan, she sat up and fished around until she found the drawer she was looking for. Further fishing uncovered the spare lightbulb she kept within the drawer's depths. After a moment to wait for the hot, shattered bulb to cool off, Patience replaced the bulb and flicked the lamp on.  
And stared down in complete disbelief. The book she had dropped in the puddle, Mercedes Lackey's Winds of Fury, was perfectly dry. Opening the book with trembling hands, Patience stared.  
All trace of water had disappeared. In fact, it looked as though Winds of Fury had never graced a puddle. The perfectly-formed words stared back up at the amazed Patience.  
Hope poked her head out of her room as she heard a loud thump. "Patience?"   
No answer. Hope tip-toed over to her sister's room and cracked the door.  
"Patience!" Hope cried, rushing to her sister.  
Patience had fainted dead away.  
  
  
So? You like? No? Well, the next chapter's when things are really going to start getting interesting and coming together. A new, adorable character will make his appearance, and the CCS Gang head for America. But is Li coming with them?  
You'll have to wait and see! Next chapters gonna be full o' surprises! 


	4. Chapter Four: A Talking, Flying Fox Scar...

You Set Me Free, You Give My Heart WingsPart One (Contin.): The Beginning  
  
So, is everyone here?  
Everyone: Yes!  
You all used the bathroom already, right?  
Everyone (slightly annoyed): Yes!  
Anyone want to go and get snacks before we begin?  
Everyone (even more annoyed): NO!  
Sheesh! I just wanted to know 'cuz I'm not stopping the fic halfway through for someone.  
Ms. Sinic & Max: Start the damn thing already!  
Psycho: And put more ghosts and stuff in it!  
Sakura: No! Don't put any ghosts in it!  
Li: I'll protect you, Sakura.  
Ameoba Boy: Everybody just shut the hell up so she can get this over with!  
  
{Disclaimer}  
Raye: Do I own CCS?  
(Sarcastically) Hmm, let's think for a moment.  
Of course not, you idiots!!  
I own Patience, Hope, Sage, Jade, Josuah, Celos, Aku Darkness, and anyone else mentioned that did not make five-minute appearances in CCS.  
There, I think that takes care of everything.  
Ameoba Boy: What about-  
Raye: I SAID, I think that takes care of everything.  
Amoeba Boy (meekly): Yessum. . .  
  
Chapter Four: A Talking, Flying Fox Scares The Hell Out Of Sage....  
  
Sage's luck seemed to have turned around. On further exploration of the town, Sage discovered it wasn't as small as he had previously thought. And, much to his pleased surprise, he actually obtained a job he was looking forward to starting. He had accidentally stumbled onto the mechanics shop simply titled The Garage, and had grinned when he saw the prominetly painted sign, "Help Wanted".  
Despite having been a drifter much of his life, the twenty-two old Sage was quite adept at working with cars and machines. At first, the owner of the shop, known only as Tim, had been wary of hiring him without any credentials or schooling background. But Sage had convinced the burly Tim he was well suited to the job when he single-handedly repaired a stalled engine.  
With a new job to look forward to, one he could actually enjoy, Sage's spirits were lifting. To him, it had seemed as if his meeting with Patience had turned his luck around.  
  
"My suitcases are packed, Kero's sleeping in my bag, and I've already stocked up on magazines and gum for the flight," Sakura said cheerfully to Madison.  
Madison smiled and nodded over at her own pile of luggage. "Clothes, cameras, and neccessities all packed away."  
"The guys should be here any moment, shouldn't they?" Sakura asked worriedly, glancing up at the clock. Madison nodded and double-checked to make sure her camera was properly shut off.  
Sakura's nerves were especially uptight today. Li had decided to follow Sakura's plan with informing his mother of the trip to America, and Sakura was worried for his sake. What if Li got into major trouble with his mother?  
The phone beside the tv rang, startling Sakura into jumping in fright. Sakura scooped it up and willed her voice to remain calm.  
"Sakura?" The voice on the other end of the line had a heavy french accent.  
"Grannie?" Sakura asked in surprise. She hadn't expected to hear from her grandmother. . .  
"You did get my letter?" Grannie Marie's voice was concerned.  
Sakura nodded vigorously, then blushed in embarrassment. "Of course, Grannie. But you really didn't need to pay for the trip-"  
"Nonsense!" Marie cut it. "It is a good cause, and I know neither you nor your father 'ad enough money for the trip."  
Sakura blushed again. "But Grannie, I could have found another way to pay for the trip." She argued hollowly.  
Grannie Marie laughed. "Ranea wishes to speak with you, but so does Jean and Jacque."  
"But 'em on the speaker phone!" Sakura said eagerly.  
"'Ello, Sakura!" Three voices chimed over the phone.  
"Hi! How's everything?"  
"Jean put another frog in my bed yesterday, Sakura!" Ranea's voice exclaimed. The french maid was obviously furious with her boyfriend. "Can you believe that?!? Boys are so immature!"  
"But Ranea deserved the frog!" Jean argued. "Why, I'm not saying."  
"Are you excited about your trip to America?" Jacque's voice came in soft and kindly. The elderly man had been Grannie Marie's butler for more than four decades, but just a few years ago the two had married. Sakura had been ecstatic with having Jacque as a grandfather, never remembering her paternal grandfather, who had died shortly after Sakura's seventh birthday.  
"Oh, yes!" Sakura said happily. "And Yue said that all three of the new Powers are around twenty or so. I hope the girls are nice; I think I'd die if they weren't."  
Madison giggled softly from her bed. Sakura hadn't really grown up after all of these years. . .  
"Well, we must be getting off the phone now, Sakura." Grannie Marie said. "But you take care in America, and write us as soon as you arrive."  
"I will, Grannie," Sakura promised devotely. "Love you."  
"We love you, too!" All four of Sakura's extended french "family" chorused. "Goodbye!"  
Sakura hung up the phone just as Li and Shawn knocked on the door.  
"You're bringing all of this?!?" Shawn exclaimed hopelessly, staring at the immense mountain of luggage.  
"Careful, Li. Kero's in that one," Sakura said as Li slung a yellow bag over his shoulder.  
"I'll be careful," Li promised as he headed for the door, bumping the bag roughly against the doorframe as he left.  
Sakura and Madison grabbed two suitcases each and headed for the door after their boyfriends, flicking off the lights and locking the door behind them as they left.  
"Julian's meeting us at the airport," Shawn managed to gasp out as they descended the stairs.  
"Thank goodness Grannie sent me the money for the tickets," Sakura whispered confidentially to Madison. "I don't know how I could have come otherwise."  
"Mother's paying for Shawn's ticket as well as mine," Madison said as she carefully stepped down the steep staircase. "She could have paid for yours, too."  
Sakura shook her head firmly. "I'm not depending on charity to help me out, Madison. The only reason I accepted Grannie Marie's money is 'cause she's family."  
"Where did Li get enough money for the tickets?" Madison whispered. "I didn't know part-time at the car wash paid enough for plane tickets halfway across the world, and Li already said as much that he couldn't depend on Mummy Dearest for the cash."  
Sakura shrugged with a sigh. "I didn't ask, he didn't tell. He got the money somehow, and I'm just hoping that it was by legal means."  
  
Sage had just finished work, and was walking back to his hotel. It had been his extreme good luck that Tim's sister Janet ran the local hotel, and Tim had convinced her to allow Sage to stay there until he got back on his feet.  
Sage rather liked his hotel room. It was small, but good enough for him. And it even had a small fireplace, which made the room feel more homey to Sage. He had grown up in Washington, Oregon, and his parent's house had a large, welcoming fireplace.  
Lighting a fire in the fireplace, Sage dropped beside it with a groan, rubbing gingerly at his sunburned arms. Even though it was summer, the air-conditioning in the hotel was on non-stop, and Sage felt much better when the fire was blazing.  
Turning on the tv, Sage channel-surfed for a while before falling asleep beside the fire.  
It was past midnight when Sage woke. He looked down at the hot coal that had landed on his leg. Brushing it off with a mutter, Sage rubbed at the reddened mark the coal had left.  
"Should put out the fire," Sage mumbled wearily.  
A shower of sparks flew from the fire, landing on Sage. He scrambled away with a stifled curse. He stood and brushed furiously at his singed clothes. Satisfied that he was in no danger of catching fire, Sage glared over at the fire.  
And froze as he saw the tiny form outlined within the flames. It was cat-like in shape, with a bottle-brush tail. Sage took a step back, rubbing at his eyes to clear them. He must still be asleep and dreaming; there couldn't possibly be some sort of creature in the fire-  
But then the form solidified. And hovering from the crackling fire was a strange ~creature~, fox-like in build. Sage knew his mouth had dropped open, but he was too busy pinching his arm to care. He must be imagining things. . .  
The fox creature-- red in uniform with orange eyes, ears, stomach and two tiny butterfly-like wings-- yawned, landing before the fire-grate, fixing Sage with a peering look.  
"Hello," the thing spoke in a dark, husky voice. Smoke drifted about the creature's nostrils. "My name is Celos. Who are you?"  
  
The plane ride was fairly uneventful. Sakura sat between Li and Julian, and Madison and Shawn sat behind them. Kero, for once, slept through the entire plane ride, safe within the overhead compartment. Sakura was inwardly glad about this, for Kero had never agreed with plane trips, always turning green before the plane had even lifted off.  
Julian and Shawn both fell asleep halfway through, and Madison was busy reading with headphones blaring. Sakura decided now was as good a time as any to talk with Li about her worries.  
"Li, do you think your mother'll be expecially mad?" Sakura asked with a worried expression.  
Li sighed. "She shouldn't, because it's a better reason to go than most. But, Sakura," Li said suddenly, seeing Sakura's worry. "Don't worry about it. I can more than handle my mother if it comes down to it. I'll be fine."  
"I'm just worried that she'll demand you come home or something after all this," Sakura whispered fearfully.  
Li turned slightly in his seat, his amber eyes locking with Sakura's emerald. "Do you want me to stay with you and the others after all this?" Now it was Li's turn to sound and look worried.  
Sakura smiled. "Of course, Li." She dared a quick kiss. "Life wouldn't be the same without you here with me. I love you, Li. That's why I'm so worried you'll leave."  
Li smiled softly and took Sakura's hands in his. "I love you, Sakura. I'd never do anything that would hurt you, and I'd never leave you on my free will. I'll always stay with you."  
Sakura smiled, her fears laid to rest. "Thank you, Li."  
Kero snored and mumbled sleepily, turning inside Sakura's bag and nestling his head against her silk shirt. "Mmmm. . . pop tarts in vats of maple syrup flavored pudding. . .   
Yummm. . ."  
  
Sage looked absently down at his black-and-blue arm. No amount of pinching could wake him out of this extremely strange dream. . .  
The creature named Celos swung his tail back and forth, leaving wisps of smoke in its wake. "Who are you?" He repeated, not at all impatient.  
Sage sighed and gave in. It didn't hurt to go along with dreams. "My name's Sage."  
Celos's eyes fairly glowed, his tail swishing back and forth rapidly. "It is good to meet you, Master Sage."  
"~Master~ Sage?" Sage repeated in confusion. Celos nodded gravely, bobbing his head in a refined, courtly way.  
"You are my Master. Father Time woke me from my sleep, and sent me to find my Master. And you are he, Master."  
Sage sighed and dropped into a squashy armchair. "I'm sorry little creature, I'm not your Master. I'm just plain Sage."  
Celos shook his head furiously. "Oh no, you ~are~ my Master, you are. And my name is Celos, not little creature." Celos's eyes abruptly saddened. "But if you don't want to be my Master. . ."  
"Oh, that's not it at all," Sage said hastily. The poor thing looked on the verge of tears, and Sage didn't like to make anything, not even dream creatures, cry. "It's just that this is a dream and I'm sure to wake up any moment now. Sorry."  
Celos smiled suddenly. "But this isn't a dream, Master. Of course it's not. It's all quite real."  
Sage smiled patronizingly. "I'm sorry, Celos. Things like you just aren't real. And I know I'm still asleep because if I weren't, then I'd be talking to something out of my imagination and that would mean that I'm going crazy. And I'm not." Sage paused in doubt. "Or, at least I think I'm not."  
Celos hovered up on his orange feathery butterfly wings, darting over to Sage.  
"Ow!" Sage exclaimed, jumping back, as Celos's tiny front teeth nipped painfully at his fingertip. "What did you do that for?!?"  
Celos sat on Sage's knee with a pleased grin. "To show you that you're not dreaming. And you're not crazy. Not too much. Father Time always jokes that all magickers are crazy."  
Sage sucked furiously at his burning-hot fingertip, studying Celos as he did so. The fox creature was a pleasant warmth on his knee, but from his flashing eyes and the smoke drifting about his nostrils, Sage had the impression that Celos was hotter than he looked. "Magickers? Now what are you talking about?"  
"You and the others like you, Master," Celos said happily, washing at his red-furred face with his front paws, delicately combing his ears with his orange-tipped claws.   
"Others like me?" Sage repeated dully. His mind was slowly beginning to whirl. All of those strange things that had been happening to him lately, and now this strange creature's appearance. . .  
"You're a sorcerer, Master Sage." Celos said solemnly. "You created me lifetimes ago with your elemental magic. Don't you remember?"  
  
Patience woke with a start.   
She sighed as she swung her legs out of her bed. She'd had such a strange past two weeks. . . First that incident with the whispering voices and the wind, then the meeting with Sage, and then the mysterious repair of her now favorite Mercedes Lackey book. . . Not to mention the strange dreams she'd been having as of late.  
What had Father Time been talking with her about in this dream? Patience tried to remember each dream after she woke so she could write it down in her journal. She was keeping careful track of every strange occurance.  
Now she remembered! He'd been saying something about the new teachers, and something about creating a magic-creature. . .  
Patience sighed and hurriedly wrote the dream down under the day's date. She wouldn't worry about it. Dreams were harmless. She should worry about the other strange things that had been happening not only her, but Hope as well. . .  
Just yesterday Hope had told her that while she was out in the woods, she had begun sketching a jaunty blue-bird. Halfway through the sketch, the bird began hopping along the branch and out of sight.   
In dismay, Hope had called out to the bird to "please stay still for only a moment longer!" It was much to her surprise when the bird seemed to freeze in half hop, almost unnaturally. She had hurriedly finished her sketching and hurried off, somewhat spooked by the strange occurance.  
And then there was the near-accident Hope had barely avoided. It still sent shivers up and down Patience's spine when she thought about it.  
Hope had been exploring when the rocks had begun to tumble down the hillside she was walking beside. Hope had heard the rocks just in time, and had barely managed to dive out of the way. Or so she had told Jade and Josuah. But Hope had secretly confided in Patience that the rocks had been seconds away from overtaking her. She actually told Patience that she had screamed out in fear, throwing up her arms in a vain attempt for protection. And the rocks had miraculously veered away at the last second, even though Hope was positive there was no natural reason why they should.  
All in all, strange things were happening quicker than Patience was willing to deal with.  
  
Sakura sighed as she stretched and looked about with shining eyes, out the windows of the bustling airport.  
"Wow! How beautiful! So this is Colorado?"  
Julian nodded with equally shining eyes. "Sort of breathtaking, isn't it?"  
"So where are these three new Powers living at the moment?" Madison whispered to Sakura. She paused, eyes closed, and ran a hand across a giant map of Colorado pasted on a wall.  
"Here," Sakura said, opening her eyes to look down at the tiny city her finger had landed on. "Rocky Woods."  
"Then let's get going and not waste any time," Li said.  
Sakura nodded with a look of adventure about her eyes. "I can't wait to meet them!"  
  
Rocky Woods is a fictional city, and I'm sorry if the name was lame. My brain was more fizzled than usual while I was writing this chap, so nothing's as good as I wanted it.  
*SIGH* O-well, at least I tried.  
Do you like? Any problems with it? If so, write and complain, er, I mean, suggest some different ideas to me.  
Next chap's got the CCS Gang meeting the three new Powers, ghosts that aren't really ghosts, and Yue scaring the *BLEEP* out of Patience.   
Stay tuned folks! Love, y'all! *(^-^)* 


	5. Chapter Five: Patience Loses her Patienc...

You Set Me Free, You Give My Heart WingsPart One (Contin.): The Beginning  
  
So how's everybody? I'm seriously frazzled, 'cause I spent the night at Lizzie's last night, and all we did all night was chat in chat rooms and instant message people. Needless to say, not even every Mountain Dew we got our grubby li'l paws on {A'sN: Ms. Sinic and Beckers were there, too. Beckers is yet another one of my friends, only she's a lot less strange and more wholesome than the others...} can keep my exhaustion at bay. As I'm writing' this, I'm on my very last bit of fuel.  
So I'll try to write as much as possible before I pass out....  
Must..... continue...... for ....... adoring....... fans.......! What..... little..... amount..... of..... fans.... I.... have!  
  
{Disclaimer}  
I haven't slept in more than 34 hours.... I have a Mountain Dew close at hand, as well as my dad's fifty-five caliber. If you try to force me to do anything, I swear I'll shoot.  
I don't own the CCS characters, but I do own everyone and everything else. Now get off my property!!  
{Shoots wildly into the air, waving her Mountan Dew can about drunkenly.}  
Get off my property!! Now!!  
*BOOM!!* *BLAST!!*  
  
Chapter Five: Patience Loses Her Patience, And Ghosts Who Aren't Ghosts....  
  
Sakura looked up at the looming mansion-like building before them. She gulped nervously. Even though it was barely past noon, the immense building was cast with frighteningly dark shadows. To Sakura's awed eyes, the building looked far from hospitable. In fact, it looked very ghostly to her.  
"Are you sure this is the right place?" She whispered uneccessarily to Li, already knowing the firm answer before Li spoke. She sensed the powerful magic radiating from the two Powers within the building as clearly as he did.  
"I think it's a beautiful building," Madison breathed, turning on her camera eagerly.  
Kero poked his head from the depths of Sakura's bag, blinking in an attempt to adjust his eyes. "It's almost frightening how powerful they've grown over the past few weeks since their magic came!" Kero exclaimed in an equal awe to Madison's. "They'll soon be competing with you for the position of strongest sorceress, Sakura."  
"You're sure their names are Patience and Hope?" Madison said, zooming in on the single turrent half-hidden in shadows. "Cool names. Their parents sound like my kind of people."  
Sakura sighed as she visibly steeled herself. "Well, I suppose there's no beating about the bush. We should just hurry and get this over with."  
"Sakura, what exactly are you going to tell them?" Shawn began doubtfully as they started climbing up the winding stairs leading to the house. "Hello, we're sorcerers and sorceresses from Japan. You've got magic and we're here to teach you how to use it? Do you really think they'll buy that? They'll think we're quacks and slam the door in our faces!"  
Madison smiled at the apprehensive Shawn. "Don't worry. Just let me, Sakura and Li do the talking."  
  
Jade looked up from her manuscript at the sound of the doorbell.   
The author was further surprised to see four young people she didn't recognize standing somewhat nervously in the entrance-way.  
"Hello." Jade said in a friendly way. "Is there something you want?"  
Sakura immediately felt at ease the moment she saw the woman who had answered the door. No dark, forbidding butler was this middle-aged, pleasant-looking woman. She had very long black hair, hair that nearly reached the tiled floor.Crimps and tiny braids dotted the sleek raven-black hair. Tiny, feathery wisps of hair framed a smooth, girl-like face, further enhancing the startling ice-blueness of her slightly slanted eyes. She had a creamy golden compexion, and wore strange cresent glasses made of a crystal-like glass and twisted silver wire. She was dressed in a short, close-fitting long-sleeved red dress which showed off a fit, strong body. And a very faint wisp of magic was wrapped about this woman's inner core, very faint, yet strong.  
Madison stepped forward eagerly before Sakura had a chance to speak. "Yes, actually, ma'am. We would like to speak with your daughters, Patience and Hope? Are they home?" Madison was hazarding that this was the Powers' mother, and praying that she was correct.  
Jade smiled as sunnily as Hope at happy moments. "Of course! Come in, come in! I'll go get them!"  
The four were ushered inside without another word by the ecstatic Jade. She loved meeting new friends of Patience and Hope, and these four looked very friendly to her. And the girl who had answered her was certainly polite.  
"I'm Jade, Patience and Hope's mother. Just wait right here and I'll go and get them," Jade began, showing them into the immense living room before rushing off.  
The four friends were stunned breathless by the beautiful living room. The walls and ceiling were pale, rosy cream, giving the room the appearance of a lighty, cheerful place. The far wall was covered in floor-to-ceiling many-paned windows. The only furniture in the room were immense, extremely plushed couches and saggy armchairs, and a giant, redwood circular table, which was currently littered with magazines and several opened books. A large fireplace sat at the far end; cushions and blankets lay littered hap-hazardly before it, as well as another, face-down book. There didn't seem to be any electrical gizmos beside the giant lamp in the center of the table and the chandelier-like lamp hanging from the high-above ceiling. No tvs or vcrs for this house.  
"So that was their mother?" Shawn whispered in awe. "I wonder what the Powers themselves look like!"  
Madison smacked him softly upside his head. "Nico...."  
Shawn rubbed his head ruefully. "Yes, Kan..." {A'sN: Whenever Madison's mad with Shawn, she calls him Nico after his old name of Nicolus. And Shawn almost always apologizes by using her old nickname as apology. How many couples out there can use lifetimes-old names with each other? *(^-^)*}  
Jade suddenly burst into the room again, flying between the barriers of super-sonic speed. "Patience and Hope are on their way down, so why don't you all make yourselves comfortable?"  
They did so willingly, sinking into the quick-sand like softness of the armchairs nearby. Jade smiled at their pleased expressions, then darted off again before anyone had a chance to speak.  
"A regular little bundle of energy, isn't she?" Li muttered to Sakura. "I wonder which one of her daughters takes after her..."  
  
Patience and Hope were slowly descending the stairs together, talking quietly.  
"Are you sure you saw them?" Hope whispered fearfully, eyeing the staircase nervously.  
Patience nodded with a gulp. "I was sitting by the window last night around mid-night, and I ~saw~ them, Hope! I know I wasn't dreaming, because I pinched myself to make sure. There were three of them, all young girls. They were just wandering around by the woodland fringe, Mop, and they were glowing white with flowing gowns!"  
Hope shivered. "Maybe it was your imagination.... Ghosts aren't real!"  
Patience shook her head stubbornly. "One of them looked up at me, Mop, and her eyes were so sad, even though they were transparent! And I swear I heard a voice ask me what my name was!"  
Hope shivered again with more emphasis. "I'm not going out after dark from now on."  
Patience sighed and tried to get her freaked sister's mind off the ghosts she had seen in the moonlight the night before. "Who do you think the visitors are? Mammy said they were strangers she'd never seen before."  
Hope shrugged. "Mammy's met all my friends. Maybe one of them's that guy Sage you met last week..." Hope nudged Patience and winked meaningfully. Patience groaned and pushed her away as they took the last few steps at a hurried walk.  
The two hurried to the living room, both reaching the doorway at the same precise moment. But then they skided to a surprised stop, staring.  
The four young people, two girls and two boys, stood and stared back at them in vivid interest. But that wasn't what startled Patience and Hope.  
Both stifling screams, they took a large step backwards.  
Behind each of the visitors were four pearly white figures, dressed in ancient robes, that looked identical to the human they stood behind. The one behind the honey-brown haired girl had waist long hair dotted with flower petals and vaguely pink robes. She smiled benignly at the two terrifed sisters as she noticed their stares of fright. The figure behind the darker haired and eyed boy wore green robes and a sword strapped over his back. The wild, fiery eyes met Hope's with an almost devilishly roguish smile about them. The figure behind the dark haired girl wore pale blue robes and long, braided hair. Her eyes were sorrowfully serene and wise, but her smile was kind and wistful. And the last boy's ghostly figure wore dark red robes, and carried a strange half-staff in his transparent hands, a gnarled stick topped with a glowing white globe.  
"Ghosts!" Hope and Patience shrieked in one voice.  
The honey-brown haired girl shrieked as well, spinning about in terror. "Ghosts?!?!? Where?!?!?"  
The dark haired girl watched in bewilderment, snapping on the camera she held and peering about through the lens. The dark haired boy groaned. "Sakura, there are no ghosts!!"  
Patience and Hope stared at each other, then back at the visitors. As clear as day, the ghostly figures were still standing behind each of them.   
"Can't you see them?!?" Hope exclaimed, pointing with a trembling finger at the red-robed figure. The figure looked hurt by her rudeness.  
Li and Shawn exchanged puzzled, confused glances. "What ghosts?"  
Patience was losing her patience. "Right behind the four of you! There are ghosts right behind you!"  
Sakura shrieked again and spun about wildly. "Li!?!? Are there ghosts behind me?!?"  
Li groaned and dropped back into his chair. "I think I know what's going on."  
"What?!?" Patience and Hope demanded, their eyes still wide in fright.  
Li made a swift gesture and muttered something beneath his breath. In a heartbeat, the ghosts had disappeared.  
"How'd you do that?!?" Hope exclaimed, eyes shining with excitement now that the threat of ghosts was gone.  
Li sighed as Sakura and the others slowly took their own seats. "This wasn't the way I wanted to explain this..."  
Patience was starting to lose her temper with these vague comments. "Just who are you all and what do you want with Hope and I?"  
Shawn looked about nervously. "Could we talk about this somewhere else? Somewhere more private?" He had just caught a slight glimpse of Jade, poking her head around the corner of the room for a brief second.  
Patience sighed and nodded, despite the fact she wanted to know what was going on right ~now~, instead of later. "We can go up to our tower."  
Sakura and the others stood eagerly and followed the hurrying Hope and Patience as the two nearly broke out into a full out run as they sprinted to the staircase.  
A bare minute later they were all at the tower's top, gasping for breath and leaning against the walls for support.  
"We'll talk in my room," Patience said firmly, opening her dark-painted door.  
"But, Silent-" Hope began gasping out.  
"I'm not going in your room, Mop!" Patience said in a more firmer than usual voice. "I don't think I could stand so much light right now."  
Sakura was surprised by the interior of the quieter girl's room. It was all so dark and shadowed, and what little light there was within the room was muted and faded by the thick blue drapes covering the single window.  
Patience sat at her desk and gestured for the others to sit impatiently. Hope dropped to the floor beside Patience's chair with a sigh while Sakura and Madison sat gingerly on the unwrinkled covers of the narrow bed. Shawn and Li decided to stand rather than sit, and leaned against the wall the door was located on.  
"Now what was that all about?" Patience demanded. "And how did you make the ghosts disappear?"  
Li groaned. "Those weren't ghosts you saw-"  
"How can you say that?!?" Hope interrupted, having regained her breath. "Those were too!"  
Li waited with a frosty look until Hope subsided into an uneasy silence. "Let me explain before you interrupt, okay?" His voice was just slightly mocking, but all coolness and control. Sakura muffled a giggle as she realized the cold front Li had put on. He was prepared to treat these girls in the same way he had used to treat Sakura.  
Hope and Patience nodded numbly, quickly rethinking their first impressions of this extremely good-looking hottie.  
Li made a brief gesture. Hope and Patience caught their breaths as the ghostly figures appeared again, beside their human counterparts. With another gesture from Li, they were gone.  
"I didn't think to guard against this because none of us have the ability to see the Figures. I don't think even Tori can see them clearly. Just faint outlines around the Figures' humans."  
"Figures?" Patience echoed in confusion. "What are you talking about?"  
Li sighed again as if he had the most tiring job in the world. "What you both saw weren't ghosts, but our magical energies. Some people refer to them as Figures. Anyone with ~any~ magic has a figure, but some are fainter than others. I suppose that Madison's Figure was fainter than Sakura's or mine, right?"  
Patience and Hope nodded numbly, not quite comprehending what Li had just said, as they looked over at the dark haired girl they now knew was named Madison.  
"That's because Madison doesn't really have any inner magic, at least not the type that Sakura and I have. Her magic mostly came from her family, since Sakura is a distant relative of hers."  
"Hold it," Patience said with a silencing gesture. "You've completely lost us. What magic?"  
A strange look was dawning over Hope, a look of sudden understanding, but no one noticed it. Li sighed again and tied to continue explaining in the same cold voice.  
"My name is Li, this is Sakura, Madison and Shawn. We're from Japan. And we've got magic. So do you two. That's why we're here, to teach you how to use your magic."  
Patience laughed at this. "You need to see a doctor, pal. It's not normal to act like magic's real."  
Li gave Patience the frostiest of his glares, which promptly ended her laughter. "Sakura? Care to show her we're not quacks?"  
"Sure!" Sakura said with a smile, standing. Sakura looked normal and reasoning to Patience, and much nicer than that Li.  
Sakura summoned her wand with an almost envious ease. She didn't even need to use the entire spell anymore.   
Patience's eyes began widening as Sakura pulled a long baton-thing out of nowhere.   
"Flower Card!" Sakura said with a wide grin, slamming the tip of her wand down at the Card she had just pulled from nowhere. With a flash of light, a strange woman was standing before Sakura, with curly pinkish hair and a giant, almost obscenely frilly pink gown. She giggled and held out her hands to Sakura, her eyes pleading. Sakura shook her head slowly with a rueful grin.  
"I'm sorry, but I can't dance with you today." Sakura said. The woman seemed to shrug this off and immediately began twirling about with giggles. To Patience's surprise, flower petals began raining down on them, pink and fluffy.  
"I'm going crazy!" Patience said aloud without realizing it. Sakura and Li exchanged looks, then Sakura called Flower back. She pulled out another card after a rueful look at the remaining cherry blossom petals that littered the floor.  
"Erase Card! Erase all the flower petals!" Sakura said cheerfully. The petals disappeared right before a stunned silent Patience.  
"Do you believe us now?" Li said in a cold, indifferent tone. "Magic ~is~ real, and both you and your sister have it."  
Patience merely gaped.  
Hope then spoke up, snapping from her silent reverie. "Maybe he's right, Silent!"  
Patience glanced down at Hope in surprise. "You can't possibly believe that, Mop!"  
But Hope stood with a look of understanding about her face. "But ~maybe~ he's right, Patience. Where's your journal?"  
"Here." Patience said numbly, handing the eager Hope her black-bounded journal. Hope flipped it open and began reading aloud.  
"June 8th, 2001. Today both I and Hope had a strange dream. An old man was in it, and said his name was Father Time. He told both of us that we had gifts given in lifetimes past, and then asked us to look within a fire. After we did so, I saw a moon, and Hope saw a sun. I'm only writing this down because the dreams were so strange, and since both Hope and I had it. June 10th, 2001. I heard the voices on the wind last night. I had been sitting on the tower roof looking up at the stars when I heard someone whispering about power. They began mocking me, calling me Moon-girl, but I ordered them to stop in anger. The wind died just then, the voice with it. I was so frightened I couldn't sleep. June 14th, 2001. Today I met a stranger, a boy named Sage. He helped me from a puddle I had fallen in. I had to leave then, and I don't know if I'll see him again. But I felt something strange about him, and when I looked back before he was out of sight, I thought I saw double. It looked as though another Sage was standing behind the first. I must have been seeing things. Then, when I reached home, I wished that my book, which I had dropped in the puddle, wan't wet and ruined. The lightbulb in my lamp blew up, and when I managed to get another in, the book was completely dry. It didn't even look as though it had ever touched a puddle! Am I starting to go crazy? June 17th, 2001. Hope told me about the strange things that had happened to her out in the woods. First there was the bird she had been sketching, who had begun to leave. When Hope begged it to stay still, the bird seemed to freeze in place. Then when Hope was on her way home, walking alongside the rocky hill, an avalanche started. She told Mammy and Pappy that she managed to dodge the rocks in time, but she told me later that the rocks had been heading straight for her, and that she didn't have any time to get out of the way. She said she threw her hands up for protection, and the rocks began bouncing and veering away from her. She was quite shaken when she told me this, for it hadn't been natural for the rocks to do that." Hope snapped the book shut with a look of triumph. "And just last night Patience saw ghosts out in the woods from her window. Patience, maybe they ~are~ right! There's no explanation for all these strange things other than magic does exist and we make these things happen with it!"  
Patience was still doubtful, and was about to begin arguing when there was a knock at the door.  
"Are you all in there?" Jade's voice was muffled through the door.  
"Yes, Mammy!" Hope called.  
"You've another guest!" Jade said cheerfully as she swung the door open. Standing there was a smiling Julian.  
"Julian!" Sakura said happily as Jade shut the door and hurried down the staircase. "We went to get you at your apartment, but you weren't there."  
Julian smiled rather ruefully. "I went out to get lunch. Sorry about that." Julian looked over at the silent Patience and Hope and flashed them one of his friendliest smiles. "Hi there! My name's Julian. Are you Patience and Hope?"  
They nodded numbly.   
Hope smiled back. "Hi! I'm Hope. Do you have mag-"  
Li's hand was clamped over Hope's mouth before she had even realized he had moved.   
"Don't ask," Li hissed barely audible in the surprised Hope's ear. "He knows about magic, and he does have magic, but as Julian he doesn't realize that."  
"As Julian?" Hope whispered back as Li's hand left her mouth. Li gave her a mysterious, meaningful look and retook his spot by the door. Julian looked confused and bewildered, but shook it off when no one bothered to enlighten him.  
Just then, Kero popped from Sakura's bag. "We might as well show all our cards right now. Yue, if you would come out, please."  
Patience and Hope were struggling to take Kero in, but both yelped in surprise as Julian began glowing, eyes gently closed, and was enclosed within two feathery white wings.  
Hope watched the transformation with rapt, glowing eyes. Hope had already accepted everything and was beginning to think magic was cooler in real life than in books. But Patience, as a rule, was having trouble accepting these strange changes and news. Despite being an avid fantasy writer and reader, she had always been firmly implanted in real life. And now everything she thought was only in books was revealed to be real, she was about ready to faint, have a stroke, and scream all at once.  
Yue's wings unfolded and he looked over at Kero. "Thank you for saying please for once."  
Kero grinned. "You're welcome. These are them, Yue. Patience and Hope."  
Yue looked over at the two with icy cool eyes, nearly as remote and apart as Li was acting. "They are indeed powerful. Sakura will need help teaching these two."  
"That's why I've decided you should teach the Moon-Powered sister, and I shall teach the Sun-Powered." Kero said blithely. Hope's eyes were shining and her mouth was in the shape of a perfect "o", but Patience was struggling to breathe properly.  
Yue nodded in agreement. "That is the best course of action. Sakura will of course be in control and in charge the most of the time, but we can help her with problems and specific training."  
"What are you talking about?!?" Patience wheezed out.  
Sakura pushed Kero and Yue apart and squeezed in between the two. "This is Yue, and this is Kero. They're the Guardian of the Clow."  
"And Sakura's the Mistress of the Clow," Madison spoke up. "The Clow Cards are the things she was using earlier, like the Flower and Erase Cards."  
Sakura nodded to Madison, then continued. "And Li and Shawn have magic as well, and Madison's my best friend, so she came along, too. We came all the way from Japan to find you and another Powerful boy so we could teach you how to use your magic without endangering yourself or others. Patience, you have Moon magic, and Hope has Sun magic. I have both, but Kero has only Sun magic, and Yue has only Moon. In a sense, Yue and Kero are both magic entirely, and they protect the Clow Cards with me. Yue, Kero and I are going to teach you how to use your magic."  
Hope jumped up ecstatically. "So you'll teach me how to do magic?!?"  
Sakura nodded with an equally large smile. "Sure will."  
Hope squealed happily. "I always used to dream about having magic, and now I really do! SWEET!" Hope looked over at Patience. "Isn't it, Patience?"  
But Patience didn't answer. The poor girl had been overloaded from so many strange happenings and revelations, and had fainted dead away.  
"She's doing that too often these days," Hope complained as she went to find a bucket of water.  
  
How is it? Any good? I'm trying my best, but, unfortunately, my best isn't all that good. More mush and love next chapter, as well as a surprising (and hilarious) confrontation between stuffed animal creatures. And Li and Sakura turn into the teachers from every person's worst nightmare!   
Please, no, Mrs. Zimmerman! Don't make me write more!! I'm sorry about calling you a bitch, and I promise to never do it again to your face! Don't make me write on the chalkboard again!!! AHHH!!!  
Sorry about that. That wasn't my worst teacher nightmare, because it really happened. You get the picture, though.  
Stay tuned for more chaps coming soon!! *(^-^)* 


	6. Chapter Six: Kero and Celos Face Off WWF...

You Set Me Free, You Give My Heart WingsPart One (Contin.): The Beginning  
  
I'm too tired to think of anything witty or funny-  
Ameoba Boy: But you're never witty or funny.  
(Smacks Ameoba Boy upside his pointy head.)  
Ameoba Boy: OWWWWW!!  
So let's just start. Wimp.  
  
{Disclaimer}  
Raye: Do I have to say it again?  
Ms. Sinic: If I have to, you have to.  
Max: Why is this always such a big deal for you two? It's pretty stupid, really.  
(Ms. Sinic and Raye ignore Ms. I-Hate-Anime.)  
Raye: I'll say it if you say it with me.  
Ms. Sinic: Fine, on the count of three.  
Raye: 1...  
Ms. Sinic: 2....  
Max: I'm leaving! I know when I'm not wanted!  
Raye: 3!  
Ms. Sinic & Raye: Wedon'towntheCCScharacters, butRayeownstheothercharacters, sonobody betterstealthem, 'causeiftheydo, we'lltrackyoudownlikedogsandgomedievalonyourpunkasses!!  
Raye: Whew! Now we have to go and follow poor, unloved Max.  
  
  
Chapter Six: Kero And Celos Square Off WWF Style....  
  
Patience sat beneath the tall oak tree closest to the house with Sakura, struggling to use her magic to call a book a few feet away to her.  
"It's not that hard a feat, Patience," Sakura began in a soft voice. "You just imagine the book in your mind, then imagine it floating over to you. Then, with the image in your mind, you send out a tendril of magic to the book."  
Li was watching the two from afar, sitting beneath another tree not too far away. Now that Patience wasn't so stressed, she actually looked beautiful. Her raven-black hair shone in the sun, and her green, cat-like eyes shone with an inner light. For all that she was soft-spoken and shy, she certainly had plenty of loud thoughts. After she had waken from her faint (from which Hope had helped her from with a glass of ice water), she had then proceeded to tell everyone what she thought of them. Quite loudly. Li had maintained his cool, frostily aloof persona while laughing on the inside at the insults she came up with and used quite liberally.   
And even though both Patience and her sister were beautiful (Patience in her quiet, shy beauty, and Hope in her vibrant love of life), Li wouldn't have pursued anything with either of them. Not when he had Sakura. In his eyes, Sakura was more beautiful then either of them. And he had fallen so in love with Sakura, that there was no hope for anyone out there who wanted Li. He loved the effect the sun playing through the foliage had on Sakura. Her hair was highlighted with gold shine, and her emerald eyes shone in the bright light. She laughed lightly, and his heart always skipped a beat when she smiled. She was so happy and full of life, and seemed to give others hope wherever she went. Even when she was sad she was beautiful.  
Patience sighed and closed her eyes for a brief moment, then opened them to slits, raising her hand. The book flopped for a moment, but remained virtually unmoved.  
Li grinned.   
Just then, the book flew towards Li's face with lightning-like speed. Li narrowly ducked the flying missle, then stared over at Patience in surprise. She was glaring at him.  
"You didn't need to make fun of me!" She pouted as she called the book back easily. Sakura smiled.   
"Good job, Patience!"  
Li gaped at her, mouth open. "But I didn't say anything!"  
Patience stared at him studingly. "But didn't you say Sakura had her work cut out for her?"  
Li started. "No! I thought it..."  
Sakura's eyes lighted with understanding. "Patience, I think you can hear thoughts."  
Patience stared at her blankly. "I'm just starting to understand magic, don't tell me that I have ESP, too."  
Sakura thought as she turned away.  
"What's that?" Patience said, turning back to Sakura. "Did you say something?"  
Sakura smiled.   
Patience paled visibly. "Yes...."  
Li immediately decided to guard his thoughts around Patience. It just wasn't safe to admire someone or think about others when someone can hear your thought.  
  
"So Patience can hear thoughts?" Shawn asked that night on the way home to their apartments. They had left after having dinner with Patience and Hope, since Jade had been so adamant that they should stay. They had finally managed to pull away from the author an hour later, and had decided to return tomorrow to further teach the sisters.  
"She sure can," Li said in an all-too-well-knowing voice. "She nearly overhead some things I didn't want her to. I had to stay on my guard the entire time around her."  
"And what would you be thinking that you had to guard?" Sakura asked in a teasing voice. Li fell silent, blushing ever so slightly.  
"So we're going back tomorrow after lunch?" Julian asked. Yue hadn't felt strong enough to stay apart for Julian for long, and had returned meekly after an hour or so.  
Sakura nodded with a weary sigh. "Patience sure is stubborn and hard to teach."  
"Maybe it's because she still hasn't accepted that magic's real, let alone that she has it herself." Madison suggested wisely. "Hope was so eager to please, I think she learned more in her shorter period of teaching than Patience did in her longer."  
"You're right, of course," Shawn said, slipping a casual arm around Madison's waist and pulling her closer. Madison giggled and snuggled closer to Shawn as they walked on.  
Sakura turned away from the two and looked over at Li. He said nothing, eyes straight ahead on the road they were walking. Sakura sighed in a longing sort of way and looked away. Li just wasn't so open about his feelings as Shawn was with Madison. On that point, Sakura envied her best friend's relationship with her boyfriend. Shawn had already begun to hint of marriage, while Li remained as aloof as ever. Even when they were close, Li still stayed at a safe distance from Sakura. It was as if he was afraid of something.   
Sakura thought sadly to herself. She'd never hurt Li. Never. And she so yearned for a closer relationship with the handsome Wolf.  
Maybe it was one of the few things she'd never obtain. But that thought just made her sadder. She loved Li so very much, it was an almost physical pain in her chest. If Li didn't return her love with his own, Sakura felt sure her heart would break with sorrow.  
Madison and Shawn's whispers faded away into the background as Li looked over at the silent Sakura. Little did he know she was thinking the same wistful thoughts he was.  
Li thought. Li watched her for a long moment, yearning to pull her close the way Shawn had with Madison.  
Li observed, his brow furrowing with worry. I wonder what she's thinking about...  
Maybe she was worried that Li was interested in Patience or Hope. That was a ready enough reason. He had watched the sisters quite often, though not as much as Sakura. He always watched Sakura, slightly hidden and discreetly. But Sakura probably never noticed those glances, only the ones he had so liberally bestowed on the pretty sisters. True, Patience was a year older than he and Hope a year younger, but age made no real difference.  
Li frowned. He wished he could tell Sakura how he felt concerning the sisters, and about her as well. But in this small matter Li had always been increasingly shy. Maybe it was his fear of abandonment that kept him from showing his affection for Sakura. He always worried that a beautiful, lively girl like Sakura would lose interest in boring, repetitive old Li. He never showed that he cared anyway, except for those few unguarded moments. Maybe he really didn't care about her.... That was probably what Sakura thought every time he shied away from affection. But there had been the unguarded moments, the moments Li had been unable to prevent. Like the kiss in the park...  
And that made Li's worry increase. Sakura had used the excuse of being late to leave then, but had she really just tried to dart away from more physical affection?  
Li shook the thoughts away decisively. He loved Sakura. He trusted her. That was all that mattered. If Sakura lost her feelings for Li, she'd tell him. She was such a candid, open person, she wouldn't torture Li by withholding the truth. She'd rather tell him then let him find out on his own and be even more wounded because of it.  
And he loved Sakura, didn't he? As long as he loved her, he'd have no problems, even if Sakura didn't return his feelings. He'd love her even if she told him she hated him, even if she ran away from him. No matter what would happen in the future, Li would always love his Cherry Blossom.  
  
Li was inwardly glad that the sister's home wasn't so very far from the apartment building they all housed in. Luckily, the entire town was close to the apartments, which were located in the center of small Rocky Wood. It would have been a bother to rent a car, but now they didn't have to unless they planned to leave the town.  
Julian's room was at the end of the farthest hall, two floors above Li and Sakura's apartment. Madison and Shawn had a room similar to Sakura's and Li's one floor above. Julian climbed the stairs wearily, apologizing for retiring so early. He felt so unusually tired today... Madison and Shawn excused themselves as well, racing up the stairs laughing.  
Sakura silently unlocked the apartment door, then stood aside to let Li enter. He did so with a questioning look. Sakura followed him inside, shut the door and locked it for the night. Before Li had a chance to speak, Sakura did.  
"Li, do you love me?"  
Li stared at her. They had yet to turn on the lights, and he could just barely see Sakura's face from the pale twilight streaming in the windows. Her eyes were shadowed, but pleading. She looked so sad and childlike, yet still the strong, mature Sakura. It was a strange combination.  
Sakura bowed her head, her hair blocking her eyes from view. "I'm sorry. It was rude of me to ask-"  
"Why do you want to know, Sakura?" Li asked softly. Sakura's head darted up, and for a brief moment Li thought he saw tears in her eyes. But then she blinked, and the tears disappeared.  
"I'm just curious, Li." Sakura whispered out as way of apology, brushing past him. Li caught her by the arm before she took another step.  
"Sakura, don't go." Li whispered barely audible. Sakura turned and stared at him with pleading, soft eyes.  
"Do you love me, Li? You told me so in Paris seven years ago, without hesitation. Have your feelings changed?"  
Li silently pulled the unresistant Sakura closer, catching her hands in his. "I know I don't show my affection often, Sakura. It doesn't seem to be my nature to be so open. And I..."  
Sakura watched him curiously, lacing her fingers with his. Li paused, silent.  
"I'm afraid that I'll be hurt if I open too much. Even to you." Li whispered.  
Sakura was silent, but her eyes softened. Releasing Li's hand, she reached up and gently touched his cheek. "Li, I would never hurt you. Never. I love you too much. I would never be able to stand your pain if I ever hurt you. And I already swore long ago that I never would."  
Li smiled so gently, Sakura almost didn't catch it in the darkness. "Thank you, Sakura."  
Sakura smiled, pulling Li closer. She kissed him softly, then pulled back slightly, her face inches from Li's.  
"You do love me?"  
Her eyes were so pleading. Li nodded slightly with a smile. "Of course I do, Sakura. You're the only one I'll ever love."  
Li pulled Sakura into another kiss, one arm gently around her waist and keeping her close, the other resting lightly on her back. Sakura's arms circled around his neck, her body soft and warm against Li's.  
When they finally parted, Sakura had to catch her breath. She laid her head against Li's chest, comforted by his presence.  
"I love you, Li, so much it sometimes hurts." Sakura whispered confidentially. "I never want to leave your side."  
Li's smile widened and he kissed the top of Sakura's head. "I feel the exact same way. I can just never seem to show it."  
Sakura smiled and looked up at Li, her eyes shining. "I'll help you."  
~So I'm a little left of center,  
I'm a little out of tone?  
Some say I'm paranormal,  
So I just bend their spoon.  
Who wants to be ordinary,  
In a crazy, mixed-up world?  
I don't care what they're saying,  
Long as I'm your girl.~  
Li tilted Sakura's head back and kissed her again, his hands resting gently on her back. Sakura answered with another kiss, hands on Li's arms. The two parted to breathe, eyes shining and faces flushed.  
"Promise you'll never leave me, Li." Sakura begged. "Please promise me."  
Li nodded. "I promise I'll never leave you, Sakura. You'll always have me to lean on."  
Sakura's eyes shone. "Thank you so, Li. And I promise to stay with you through anything. I swear it!"  
The kiss they shared made each certain that they had only spoken the truth.  
  
"So what'll we do until lunch?" Madison asked the next morning at breakfast. When Sakura and Li had entered the dining room hand in hand, Madison knew something had happened between the two during the night. Which suited Madison just fine. She thought the two had been acting far too distant lately; this was a welcomed change from the brooding, silent Sakura and Li.  
"Li and I are beginning to sense the third Power more clearly. And he's clearly in this town. We decided last night to seek him out." Sakura said as they took their seats at the breakfast table.  
"Is that all they did?" Shawn whispered to Madison. It was only extreme self-control that kept her from giggling aloud.  
  
Sage looked up as Tim rounded the corner. "Lunchtime." Tim said cheerfully, slamming shut the hood of the car Sage had just been working on. "Take an hour or two off."  
Sage smiled and saluted. "Yessir!" Tim grinned as he watched the young man run off to the hotel.  
"Not a bad kid at all." Tim said proudly, hurriedly shutting The Garage for lunch.  
  
Celos primly ate the sugar-glazed muffin Sage had brought him for lunch. "This is very tasty, Master! Thank you!"  
Sage nodded and smiled. "Are you sure you don't want anything to drink?"  
Celos shook his head and licked his paws, the muffin half eaten. "I can't drink anything, Master. I wasn't made to handle liquids. Liquids douse my fires."  
Sage sighed. "That's somewhat of a relief. At least I don't have to bring anything but food for you."  
Just then there was a knock at the door. With a wisp of smoke, Celos disappeared, leaving his half-eaten muffin behind. Sage hurried and answered the door after making doubly sure Celos was out of sight.  
A strange couple were standing in the doorway, one a honey-brown haired girl, the other a dark-haired boy. They looked to be Sage's age, and a large yellow bag was slung over the girl's shoulder.  
"May I help you?" Sage asked suspiciously. The girl was staring openly at him, as if she hadn't expected him to look the way he did. And the boy seemed surprised as well.  
"Are you Sage?" Sakura asked, as if clearly doubting this was the Power they were looking for. There was no real large sense of magic about him, and he didn't look anything like the Power she had expected. This Sage had dark black hair and hazel green eyes, and was roughly about as tall as Li. He was dressed in baggy, faded khakis, and a long blue t-shirt. In fact, he strangely reminded her of Shawn.  
"Yes..." Sage said, still suspicious. "And you are?"  
Li shook off his surprise. "My name's Li, and this is Sakura."  
Sage nodded slightly. "Hi. You seem to already know me, but I still have no clue who either of you are."  
Sakura sighed.   
"Can we come in?" Li asked doubtfully. Sage studied them both for another long minute and finally nodded reluctantly.  
Sakura sat gingerly on the end of the bed, Li sitting beside her. They weren't physically touching, but there was an implination by their closeness that Sage didn't catch.  
Sage took a seat in the nearby armchair. He leaned forward in his seat and laced his hands together, staring penetratingly at the couple. Sakura was getting the strange, uncomfortable feeling that he was trying to read their thoughts. And if the other two Powers were anything like Patience, that was a frightening possibility.  
Sakura cleared her throat nervously, deciding to get the conversation started. "Are you new in town, Sage?" Sakura already knew that answer, from Patience's meeting of Sage a week or so earlier. And Kero had done a search for information on the boy, and had already discovered much more than his name. The Guardian of the Clow had done a similiar search on the sisters; that was how they knew their names. But Sage's history wasn't quite so open as the sisters. It was almost as if Sage was trying to hide something from any prying eyes.  
Sage nodded cautiously. "Why did you two come here? What do you want with me?"  
Li decided to take over from Sakura. "Sage, has any strange things been happening to you? Things that can't be explained away?"  
Sage nearly jumped in surprise. But years of concealing every emotion from curious strangers hid the reaction quite carefully. Sage's mind began whirling. "Maybe." Sage finally resolved to say.  
A triumphant look claimed Sakura. She had started to get worried that this wasn't the boy they were looking for; there certainly wasn't a strong sense of magic around him. "You ~are~ the one we're looking for!"  
Sage's caution increased ten-fold. "Why are you looking for me?"  
Li decided to dive straight in. "Sage, you're a magician. A sorcerer, if you will."  
To Sakura's and Li's amazement, Sage didn't look as surprised as they would have expected.  
"So?" Sage said simply to their stunned amazement. "I already found that out on my own. Why did you want to find me?"  
Sakura sighed in half-relief. "Li and I both have magic as well, Sage. We're both from Japan. A few weeks ago, we sensed powerful new magic in America. There were three new Powers. We've already located the other two, and the only one left was you."  
Sage nodded slightly in understanding. "What do you plan to do now you've found me?"  
"Begin your magical training," Li said simply. "Sakura's teaching the other two Powers because their magic is like hers, but the magic we sensed from you was elemental, the type of magic that I possess. We were hoping that you'd agree to the idea of me teaching you how to use your magic."  
"Why is it so important that I learn how to use my magic? I'm just a drifter, a hitch-hiker. It's not like I want to become a powerful magician or something." Sage said doubtfully.  
Li sighed. "Be that as it may be, you still have magic. You can't wish or imagine it away. And as long as you're alive, other magickers will try to seek you out."  
"Why?" Sage asked, confused.  
"Some may be like Sakura and myself; wanting to help a new Power and make sure they survive. But others will be looking for you for their own gain, to use you or your magic, in either willing means with your consent, or against your free will. As long as you have magic, magickers will try to seek you out. And if the magickers turn out to be of the bad sort, you'll need to know enough magic to fight them off, or at least make good your escape from them. Any magicker can sense another, Sage. No matter what you try to do, no matter how far you run, magickers will still seek you out."  
Sage began to look worried by the revelation. "Then I suppose you'll have to teach me, Li. I wouldn't want to be kidnapped by some sicko magician."  
Sakura smiled in a pleased, satisfied way.   
Just then, a round yellow head poked out of Sakura's bag. "I smell muffins!" Kero cried, fighting to clamber free from the bag's folds.   
Sage had been startled by Kero's entrance for a few moments, but then accepted this development. Besides, this bear-like creature was an awful lot like Celos.  
"Kero!!" Sakura hissed angrily. "That wasn't a very polite way to show yourself!"  
Li groaned. "And since when has Kero ever been polite?"  
Sakura looked over at Sage by way of apology. "I'm sorry. This is Kero. A.... friend of ours."  
"The Stuffed Animal's no friend of mine," Li muttered snidely under his breath. Kero didn't hear, luckily, for he had just managed to squeeze free of Sakura's bag.  
"MUFFIN!!" Kero screamed in joy, diving towards Celos's half-eaten muffin lying on the rug before the fire.  
Before Sakura or Sage could do anything, Kero had shoved the muffin into his mouth.   
With a wisp of smoke, Celos appeared, a doleful look on his vulpine face. "That was mine!" he whined in his soft voice.  
Sakura felt as though her eyes were bulging from her sockets. She had expected to surprise or stun Sage this much, not get the same treatment for herself!  
Sage sighed. "This is Celos. Celos, this is Sakura, Li.... and Kero."  
Kero was too busy munching on his faceful of muffin to care about much of anything. "Ummm, scrummf! Yummmmmmmm!"  
Celos pouted, waving his fire-red tail about. Each wave left a wisp of smoke behind. "That was mine!"  
Kero swallowed just enough to talk. "Ooo shouldn' of left it ungua'ded."  
Sakura was reclaiming her composure while Celos sadly watched his muffin's demise. "Kero..... You really need to learn some better manners....."  
"Yumm!" Kero said as he swallowed the last of the muffin.  
"Just what is Celos, and how did you come by him?" Li asked curiously as Kero and Celos began exchanging Death-Glares worthy of any Heero.  
Sage struggled to explain, despite the fact he didn't quite know himself. "I'm really not sure what Celos is, but he mentioned once that he was a Guardian Creature. And he swears that ~I~ made him hundreds of years ago, in another one of my lives."  
"You must have been a very Powerful magician back then," Sakura said in awe. "Clow Reed was the only one I know of that could create a Guardian Creature."  
"When did you get Celos?" Li asked.  
Before Sage had a chance to answer, Celos did. "I came to Master about a week ago!" The fox-creature had a wide, blissful smile on his whiskery face. "Isn't Master just the greatest?"  
Kero huffed. "He's not as good as my Mistress. She's the most powerful magicker in the world! She's the Mistress of the Clow, and that says a lot." Sakura blushed from Kero's very unexpected praise.  
Celos shook his head furiously. "I don't know what the Clow are, but my Master's the strongest magicker there's ever been and ever will be! He's loads stronger than your Mistress!"  
Li and Sage both saw the unevitable just then, but were too late to prevent it.  
"You take that back!" Kero growled, flexing his tiny arm muscles meaningfully, the vein on his forehead popping.  
Celos shook his head loftily, swishing his tail back and forth. "Never! My Master's the greatest!"  
With a yell, Kero dove onto Celos. In seconds, all that could be seen was a whirling ball of gold and red.  
Sakura groaned at Kero's bad behavior. "Windy! Separate the two idiots." She looked over to Sage in apology as Windy raced to do her Mistress's bidding. "I'm sorry I called your Celos an idiot-"  
Sage grinned. "If he didn't know when to stop bragging for his own good, then he ~is~ an idiot."  
Kero and Celos struggled against Windy's hold in an attempt to finish their fight, but the Clow Card squeezed them unmercifully until they stopped their futile struggling and lay gasping for breath. She gently dropped Celos by the fire, then carried Kero back to Sakura.  
Before Kero even had a chance to stutter out an excuse, Sakura squeezed him reproachfully. "You don't get in fights with friends, Kero! Celos is a friend!"  
"But-" Kero whined. He was sporting a large black eye, a giant bump on the side of his head, a scratch mark along his arm, and a singe-burn on the tip of his tail.  
"No buts!" Sakura said forcefully, throwing Kero into her bag and leaving him shut up for him to heal himself. "Sorry about that..."  
Sage grinned. "Wasn't your fault. Your Guardian sure is protective of you."  
Li made a rude noise in the back of his throat. "He doesn't need to be."  
Sakura smiled, turning to Li. "Not when I've got you, hmm?"  
Li smiled and discreetly took her right hand in his. "Of course."  
Sage blinked. That was unexpected.... They certainly hadn't been acting like a couple when they had entered; more like close friends or partners. But then again, maybe they were all three....   
Celos flopped into Sage's lap just then, already healed and back in a good frame of mind. "Master, I don't care what that Stuffed Animal says. ~I~ still think you're the greatest."  
Sage smiled and patted Celos on his fluffy head. "Thanks, Celos."  
"I AM NOT A STUFFED ANIMAL!!!" Sakura's quivering yellow bag raged.  
  
  
You like? Or no? Any ideas or suggestions? REVIEW!!  
In the next chapter:  
A picnic gone terribly wrong, the reunion of Patience and Sage, Hope falls in love with Kero, and a strange Darkness overfalls the little town of Rocky Wood when a new arrival makes the scene....  
Is the story gonna turn out Happy Ever After?  
Or is it going to be bittersweet?  
Please REVIEW and tell me what you think of the fic. I'm always open for changes and improvements.  
{A'sN: The song exerpt is from the song called You Get Me by Michelle Branch, from her CD the Spirit Room. I like to put song bits in a lot of my fics, so be prepared to see some more in upcoming chapters! *(^-^)*} 


	7. Chapter Seven: A Picnic and Encroaching ...

You Set Me Free, You Give My Heart WingsPart Two: The Middle  
  
*WHEW!* I just got back from my first day of high school, and am I ever tired!  
And even though I got the classes I wanted, I've only got one class with Psycho, and one class with my partner Ms. Sinic and Da Bomb. I don't even have Ameoba Boy in any classes! Which means I don't have a scapegoat for any anger! They shouldn't have taken my own personal punching bag from me! *(T-T)* {Tears}  
I've got Preps in every class, and some people I don't know, too. Mr. Madsen sure was funny, though.  
Tomorrow I have 0-hour for the first time, and I AM NOT looking forward to Algebra A.  
I DON'T WANNA GO!! I JUST WANNA STAY HOME AND TYPE ON MY COMPUTER FOR THE REST OF MY LIFE!!!  
But I guess I'll have plenty of time for that after I finish college and get my teaching degree, find a job, work for twenty or so years, then retire. THEN I can be a full-time author and work on fanfics, too. If I still like anime by then....  
But, I'm veering from the topic at hand. Who's ready for some CCS mush and so forth?!?  
Everyone: WE ARE!!  
Ameoba Boy: Kill me now....  
I'll be happy to oblige you...  
Ameoba Boy: NO!!!  
  
{Disclaimer}  
Does anyone out there have an IQ less than 60?  
No?  
Then why must I keep repeating myself? Do you all have God-awful memories or something? Was one of your ancestors a goldfish with a three minute long memory span?  
Let me spell this out for you in layman's terms, k?  
I. DO. NOT. OWN. CCS.  
There. Simple.  
Need I say it again?  
  
Chapter Seven: A Picnic And Encroaching Darkness....  
  
Hope met Madison and Shawn halfway up the steps to the house. "Hiyah, guys!! Where's Sakura and Li?" Hope's energy was bursting through the levels of hyperness. {A'sN: Think of a sweeter, more innocent Lizzie with fifteen cans of Mountain Dew in her system...}  
"They went to find the third new Power. They should be over in an hour or so." Madison said as Shawn and she climbed the last few steps.  
"YIPPEE!!!" Hope exclaimed, dancing inside ahead of the two. "I can't wait to get started!!"  
  
Jade wasn't home today (she had left an hour ago to deliver a new manuscript to the post office), but Josuah was.  
Josuah strongly reminded Madison of Aiden Avalon, Sakura's Dad. He even looked somewhat like him, only slightly older and with more gray hair than Aiden. Hope's father was sitting in the living room, drawing furiously on a large blueprint spread over the circular table before him. He looked up absently as Hope skipped by the doorway, but his interest increased when he saw Madison and Shawn. Standing and rubbing his pencil and inkstained hands on his handkerchief, he hurried over with a big smile and an outstretched hand.  
"Hello there!" He said amiably as he shook Shawn's hand warmly. "I'm Josuah, Hope and Patience's father."  
"I'm Shawn," Shawn said as Josuah released his hand and gently shook Madison's.  
"And my name's Madison." Madison liked this man immediately. It was almost uncanny how much he looked like Aiden.  
Patience appeared just then, primly taking the last few steps at a hurried walk. She was just about to greet Madison and Shawn when the doorbell rang. Hope flew to answer it with a speed that would leave even Jade envious.  
"Sakura!! Li!!!" Hope squealed, actually hugging the surprised and startled Sakura.  
"Hope," Sakura gasped out. "I....can't....breathe!"  
"Sorry," Hope said cheerfully as way of apology. "I'm just so excited! When do we start?"  
"Hope, this is Sage." Li said, gesturing to the boy that had been hidden behind Sakura and Li. In Sage's hands was a fox-like stuffed animal who's eyes almost made it look alive.  
"Hi!!!" Hope exclaimed in a piercing voice that made Sage wince. "I'm Hope!! Come on in!!"  
Sage was so preoccupied with staring around him at the impressive house with wide eyes, he didn't notice the frozen girl at the end of the hall.  
"Sage?" Patience asked in her quiet, slightly surprised voice.  
Sage's head jerked about at the sound of the familiar voice. "Patience?"  
Patience nodded with a slight smile. "How are you?"  
Sage grinned. "Good! I got a job at The Garage."  
"That's where I take my car for tune-ups," Josuah's voice echoed from the living room.  
"Is your book okay?" Sage joked.  
Patience nodded seriously. "In perfect condition, actually."  
Sakura interrupted just then. "Li and I decided we're going to have a picnic today. Would you like to come?"  
"YES!!!" Hope squealed happily, bouncing about in a sugar-craze. "Let's go, Patience!!"  
It took a surprisingly short amount of time to get everyone ready. Hope flew about in a frenzy making up a picnic basket fully large enough to feed twenty people (which suited the hidden, sniggering-in-anticipation Kero). Patience hurried upstairs to change into clothes better suited for the outdoors than the black dress she had been wearing. Sage meanwhile sat in the living room, sweating bullets when Celos narrowly avoided sneezing in front of the friendly, chattering Josuah.  
Then they were off, Hope skipping ahead and singing off-key, Patience lagging behind with an embarrassed, blushing face for her sister's behavior. Hope was eagerly leading them to a small hollow she knew in the middle of the woods, where a small pond further enhanced its prettiness.  
Once safely within the trees, Celos and Kero had been allowed to fly free, and were now doing aerial antics more complicated then the last in an attempt to decide who was the better flyer.  
"Where's Julian?" Patience spoke up after a few minutes of walking. "Or should I say Yue?"  
"Either. Doesn't really matter," Sakura said, waving a curious bee from her flower-strewn hair. She had collected a veritable bouquet of daisies, and now wore them woven into a flowery crown. "And Julian left early today to explore the town. More likelier than not, he's somewhere eating his fifth helping of eggrolls or something."  
"Yue and Julian are so different," Hope commented from up ahead. "Julian's all warmth and friendliness, and Yue's just cold and indifferent. I don't think he likes me."  
Sakura laughed. "Yue treats everyone like that, even me. And technically, I'm his Mistress. That's just Yue's personality. I think the only one he's ever been really comfortable and close to was Clow Reed."  
Li noticed Sage's confused look, so he took it upon himself to explain about Sakura's past and Clow Reed. While he did so, the girls continued on ahead.  
"I think Celos and Kero are sooooo cute!" Hope cooed as the two shot overhead, Celos's tail flaming with red fire, Kero's wings moving so fast they were a blur.  
"They're called Guardian Creatures. Maybe someday, if you get strong enough magically, you can create your own Guardian Creature, one that suits you and is compatible with your personality." Sakura said as she picked another daisy.  
"Then I want my Creature to be like Kero," Hope said happily, twirling about through the butterflies and bees. "I think he's so cute and smart!"  
Li heard this remark and scoffed. "Kero? Cute and smart? Since when does being a stuffed animal who eats and plays video games all day make you cute and smart?"  
"Ignore Li," Sakura whispered to Patience and Hope under her breath. "He and Kero never did get along."  
They reached the clearing without any real troubles, although Sakura had to use the Windy Card again to separate Kero and Celos when they got into a mid-air wrestling match over who the strongest was.  
"It's so pretty, Hope!" Sakura exclaimed as Madison took the clearing in through her view finder.  
Hope looked very proud and pleased as she and Patience spread out the picnic blanet and began setting out the food.  
Kero immediately forgot about his rivalry with Celos and dropped down to the blanket with the joyful look of someone who has too many perfect things to choose from.  
"Cake, pudding, muffins, cookies, jello, everything I love!!!" Kero screamed ecstatically, burying his face in the pudding bowl before anyone could stop him. Hope giggled when he resurfaced, his face a chocolatey, gooey mass.  
"Ummmmmmm..." Kero sighed in bliss as he licked his face and paws clean.  
Celos turned his nose up at Kero's disgraceful behavior and started to eat a carrot Sage had offered him. "No manners at all..."  
  
Sakura noticed halfway through the picnic that Patience was staring at Li oftener than she was eating. "Patience? Is there something on your mind?"  
Patience started in surprise. She hadn't realized that Sakura was watching her. "Uh.... no, not really...."  
Sakura nodded in an unsatisfied way and returned to her chicken salad sandwich.  
Kero was hovering around Li with a sad, puppy-dog look on his face. Li was eating the last muffin (Kero had already inhaled the others whole), and he was adamant in keeping it to himself. Li kept having to smack the persistent Kero away, until the Guardian finally fell into the green jello bowl after a strong smack from Li.  
Hope scooped Kero from the bowl and cheerfully carried the squirming, protesting Guardian Creature to the small pond nearby, where she then proceeded to dunk him into the water and scrub him until the last bits of the slimy jello had been washed off. But as soon as Kero had freed himself from Hope's helpful clutches and had managed to shake himself dry, his hair spiked unnaturally and slowly turned green.  
"Looks like you had a reaction to the jello, Kero!" Sakura laughed. Kero skulked for a moment before buzzing off into the woods, eager to explore and escape Celos's mocking comments of commupances for greedy gorging.  
Patience hadn't paused in her staring at Li this entire time, but Sakura decided to ignore it. Patience was clearly looking at Li in a way suggesting she was thinking of becoming something more than friends someday, but Sakura wasn't that worried. Li had promised her last night she'd never be without him, and Li ~always~ kept his promises....  
Hope darted off a moment later, to find Kero. Sage was feeding Celos small bits of a chicken leg, and Patience's food lay untouched. Li looked over at the girl and smiled slightly before returning to his potato salad. Patience blushed and looked down, eyes covertly staring at Li through her long lashes.  
  
Tim looked up from the car he worked on as a shadow fell across the hood. "May I help you?"  
"Yes, actually," the strange boy said. He was darkly tanned, had black hair and the strangest brown eyes Tim had ever seen. They were a mixture of brown and black, and looked eerily like the color of dried blood. But the boy himself was quite good looking, and had a pleasant smile on his face. "Do you know a boy named Sage?"  
Tim nodded an affirmative as he wiped his hands on his handkerchief. "Sure do. Works here, he does. Are you a friend of his?"  
The boy's smile was so pleasant it was almost chilling. "You could say that. Do you happen to know where he is at the moment?"  
Tim shook his head slowly. "No, not really. He came by an hour or so ago and asked for the rest of the day off, said he had something important to do. He should be in tomorrow bright and early, though."  
The boy smiled again. "Thank you, anyway." As he turned to go, Tim stopped him.  
"Do you want me to tell him you dropped by?"  
The boy half-turned with a slight smirk. "No thank you. I'll just drop by tomorrow."  
Tim turned back to the engine after the boy had disappeared, shivering involuntarily.   
  
Patience looked up from her untouched plate as Li stood, looking over at Sakura.  
"Sakura, can I talk with you in private?" Li asked. Sakura nodded with a smile, setting her own plate on the blanket and following him into the trees.  
Patience watched them go curiously, eaten alive with curiousity. Madison and Shawn were dozing, Madison's head resting on Shawn's chest. Sage was laughing at Celos's aerial sommersaults, but looked up as Patience stood, smoothing her blue shorts and white sleeveless top.  
"Where are you going?" he asked curiously. Patience shrugged.  
"No where special. I'll be back in a moment."  
Sage nodded suspiciously and returned his attention to Celos, who was disappearing and reappearing with wisps of smoke. Patience hurried into the tree-line, a safe distance away from where Li and Sakura had just entered. Careful to mind each twig, Patience slowly made her way towards the two. She froze suddenly as their voices reached her.  
"....she's a nice girl, no doubt, Sakura."  
"You know, if she hadn't been watching you so much, she probably would have noticed that Sage was staring at her constantly." Sakura's voice drifted to Patience. She edged forward a few more steps, until she could see the two. She ducked behind a tree to watch.  
Li sighed. "Isn't that always the way? You never notice the one that's starting to take an interest in you until months later."  
Sakura laughed. "Like you were with me?"  
Patience froze in surprise, eyes widening, as Li's hands cupped Sakura's face. "I was an idiot not to tell you sooner."  
Sakura smiled softly. "Maybe. But I think Patience is starting to get a crush on you, Li. What'll you tell her if she tries to pursue anything with you?"  
Li sighed again. "I'm not sure. The truth, I suppose. I love you, Sakura, not anyone else. Not even Patience or Hope. They're both great girls, and I want to be their friends, but you already know I wouldn't pursue anything with either of them."  
"So you keep telling me," Sakura whispered. Patience's eyes widened. She hadn't the slightest clue that Sakura and Li were a couple! They had acted cordial, but separate, to each other from the second she had met them.  
"Do you need more convincing?" Li asked in a low voice, suggestively.  
Sakura laughed. "I think so, Wolf."  
Patience slipped away unnoticed as Li and Sakura kissed, wrapped in each other's arms.  
  
Hope paused for a moment, peering about nervously. "Kero? Kero!! Where are you?!?!" Her echoes rebounded softly.   
Hope shivered. The warmth seemed to have suddenly disappeared from the sunlight. The shadows around her became more pronounced. And she was starting to feel a prickly sort of touch along her spine; as if something was trying to warn her of something.  
A crack nearby startled Hope. She jumped and spun about, her eyes wide in fear, her lips and hands trembling. She peered into the darkness of the trees. "Is anyone out there?"  
Silence. Hope slowly turned around again, shaking with terror.  
SNAP!  
Hope spun about, her hands clenched into shaking fists. She suddenly wished Sakura or Li were here. Something strange and very wrong was going on....  
A loud rustling through the undergrowth made Hope turn again. Her eyes widened in terror.  
A strange creature came barreling out of the undergrowth, with black scaly skin and a cow-like body. Its head was strangely canine, and its eyes and teeth were a fearsome blood red. Its front legs ended in human-like hands, and its back was ridged in sharp spikes.  
Hope screamed, stumbling backwards in fright. The creature snorted as if contemptuous as it continued running forward, its eyes becoming larger and larger-  
A whistling of wings overhead engulfed the trembling, frozen-still Hope. Bare moments before the creature struck her head on, she was lifted from the ground, whisked over the creature's head!!  
Hope looked up in terror. Had she escaped one monster only to be kidnapped by another?  
But the yellow, white-winged creature who carried her so gently looked oddly familiar...  
"Kero?" Hope whispered out in awe. The creature looked down for a brief moment. A large smile betook his furry face.  
"Actually, in this form I am know as Keroberos. But Kero's still just fine with me," the creature rumbled. In this form, Kero certainly looked stronger and sounded more powerful. Hope smiled and decided to enjoy the flight in Kero's safe paws as the two coasted over the tree tops, flying towards the picnic.  
  
Sage looked up absently as Patience retook her spot on the blanket. "Is something wrong?"  
Patience smiled brightly and shook her head. "Not really. For a moment I thought there was, but I'm okay now."  
Sage's brow furrowed in confusion, but Sakura and Li returned just then.  
"Patience-" Li began.  
Patience looked up with a sunny smile. "I know."  
Li looked confused. "Know?"  
Patience nodded slightly with the same smile. "I know about you and Sakura."  
Li looked both concerned and relieved. "And you're okay with that?"  
Patience nodded with a warm smile. "I think I'll live, Li. You're a great guy, but I'm sure there's a better one out there waiting for me."  
Sakura laughed. "You're probably right! But I think I'll stick with Li; he may be slightly flawed, but he's the best I'll ever do."  
Li adopted a look of mock hurt while the girls laughed. Just then, Kero and Hope appeared.  
"Kero?" Sakura asked worriedly as Hope was set gently down to the grassy ground. "What happened?!? Why did you transform?"  
Kero folded his wings over his shaggy back. "Hope got into a bit of trouble a ways away from here."  
"What happened?!?" Patience asked in concern, rushing to her sister, enveloping her in a warm, sisterly hug of comfort. Hope certainly looked pale and shaken.  
"Hope was attacked by a mage-construct," Kero said solemnly. "A ~Dark~ mage-construct."  
Patience and Hope looked over to Li and Sakura in puzzlement, uncomprehending. Sakura's face had drained white as Li dropped limply to the blanket.  
"Thank God you got to her in time, Kero." Sakura breathed as she sat herself, as if physically unable to stand any longer. "That thing could have destroyed her."  
Hope began trembling in Patience's steady arms. "It was horrible looking. Like a cow and a human and a dog all mixed together. But ~what~ was it?"  
Li squeezed Sakura's hand for comfort. "A Dark magicker is nearby. One that doesn't care if he destroys a new Power. He probably sensed the three of you and came to investigate, since we're all Shielded. The mage-construct was probably a bodyguard to keep other magickers from him." Li paled further. "And Hope, when we talk about Dark mage-constructs, there's something you should know."  
"It's an ability the contructs possess," Sakura said weakly. "They can destroy you. Completely. Even your soul. If that happens, you'll never be reborn again."  
It was only by supreme will that Hope did not faint.  
  
Hope and Kero (back in his usual form) were sitting on the tower roof. The others were inside, talking about the mage-construct and the good possibility of a Dark magicker in town. Sakura and Li had firmly decided to begin buckling down on training, to prepare Hope, Sage and Patience for the worst case scenario.  
Hope looked over at Kero, who was laying sprawled on his back, taking in the last rays of sunlight. The Guardian of the Clow was quite tired after his sudden, unexpected transform-ation. But, as Kero would always say, you should always expect the unexpected.  
"Kero, thanks for saving me." Hope said softly.  
Kero opened one eye and grinned. "No prob, kid. All in a day's work."  
Hope grinned and scooped Kero up, hugging him tightly. "Thank you very much! You're such a nice bear-thingy. I love you, Kero!"  
"I... love.... you.... too!" Kero gasped out. "But.... if.... you.... love.... me, please.... don't... kill.... me!"  
  
You like? Any suggestions? REVIEW!!  
Next chaps gonna have:  
Sakura and Madison try their hands at matchmaking, Shawn's surprising question interrupted, the meeting of the Darkness, and even more Li and Sakura mush!!!  
Everyone: YIPPEE!!!!!!!!!  
So stay tuned folks! It's getting better every chap! {A'sN: I hope....} 


	8. Chapter Eight: Shawn Interrupted

You Set Me Free, You Give My Heart Wings Part Two (Contin.): The Middle  
  
I've been itchin' to write, so let's get started!!  
  
{Disclaimer}  
Since I've been having Head of Heathers, I've collected some quotes of my own...  
So here's the first collection of Rayeisms!  
I don't give a flying dutchman!  
Temporary fits of insanity ain't so temporary for me.  
I'm not all crazy. Only 99%.  
Choking someone with a golf club is great for relieving stress and anger.  
I know what she'll do, and it won't be fresh linen.  
Grandad, you ran another stop sign....  
And the ones who own CCS are known as Clamp, not Raye Firearrows. Sorry, fans.  
  
Chapter Eight: Shawn Interrupted...  
  
Sakura and Li sat together beneath the trees of the woods behind their apartment building, talking quietly and staring up at the stars. Li sat with his back against a large oak tree, and Sakura sat beside him, her head resting gently on his shoulder and her hands entwined with his.  
"Li, I can't sense the Dark sorcerer." Sakura whispered confidentially. A tremble of fear was hiding in those words. "I know he's nearby, but I can't sense him. That's frightening. He's powerful, ~very~ powerful. Kero's only just starting to teach me how to hide my Power from others."  
Li sighed and squeezed Sakura's hands. "He's powerful, yes. The mage-construct made that clear. But Sakura, you're the most powerful sorceress in the world. And with my magic, and even Sage, Patience, Hope and Shawn to back you up, you'll be able to handle anything this guy throws at you. I just know it."  
Sakura looked up at Li, her eyes fear-filled. "I so hope you're right, Li."  
"When have I ever been wrong?" Li joked softly.  
Sakura's eyes clouded. "There's a first time for everything..."  
"Don't think things like that!" Li said firmly, shaking her hands slowly for emphasis. "Thoughts like that will bring you nothing but unfounded despair and fear."  
Sakura sighed. "You're right. I know you are. But I just can't seem to stop thoughts like that, Li. I can't." Sakura's voice was so soft Li barely heard her.  
Li kissed her softly, trying desperately to reassure her. Sakura relaxed in his arms, her fears beginning to fade with the contact. They slowly parted and Sakura smiled softly.  
"Somehow, Li, when I'm with you, nothing can ever really get to me." Sakura murmured, leaning her head against his chest, his warm arms holding her comfortably. She slowly drifted off to sleep, leaving Li wide awake.  
He sighed and looked down at Sakura's angelic sleeping face. "I wish I wouldn't let things get to me, Sakura. It seems as if I take your worries from you, but keep them for myself."  
He sighed again and leaned against the tree's trunk, looking up at the stars and letting his mind wander.  
  
The next morning, during a break from teaching Patience and Hope, Sakura and Madison whispered and giggled conspiritally. Li sat a few feet away, struggling to catch the hushed conversation. Hope was eagerly showing Shawn her garden in the back, and Patience was taking the given respite to rest. Sakura had been unusally hard on her today, forcing her to learn the Shielding spell by heart. Hope had yet to recieve her lesson, and Patience was inwardly glad her teachings were over for the day. Sage wasn't present at the moment, for he had to go to work. But he had already promised Li that he would stand Li's teachings for the entire upcoming weekend, which he had off.  
"Madison, I really think that Patience and Sage would make the best couple!" Sakura whispered. "Don't you think?"  
Madison nodded with a giggle. "I already know Sage is open to the idea, by the way he stares so much at Patience. But she seems both blind ~and~ oblivious to his attentions. Isn't that always the way?"  
Sakura sighed and nodded. "I know that all too well. It was three years before Li and I came out with our feelings for each other..."  
"Speaking of you and Li," Madison said quickly, deftly veering the subject from Patience and Sage. "Has he made any hints of engagement?"  
Sakura sighed and shook her head slowly. "No. But Li's Li, Madison. He'll ask when and if he's ready for it."  
Madison groaned. "Sakura, I think you need to prod him in that direction. I know Li's shy about stuff like that, but are you really going to wait around twenty years before he asks you?"  
Sakura sighed in a huffy way. "Li'll ask me when he's good and ready to. Now, back to Patience and Sage."  
Madison sighed, relenting to the return of the subject. "You're thinking they need some prodding in the right direction?"  
Sakura nodded with a slight grin. "It just seems to me as if they click into place with each other, Madison, they way I felt when you first met and started getting cozy with Shawn."  
Madison smiled at the memories. "He certainly has changed over the years, hasn't he? When we met he was a poor, lonely orphan looking for a job. And now he's so much more stronger and sure of himself, and so much more open with everything. And Mother loves him dearly. She's been hinting lately that she wouldn't mind having him become a part of the family..."  
"Do you think he'll propose soon?" Sakura asked eagerly.  
Madison shrugged, blushing slightly. "I really don't know. Personally, I hope so. He's ~the~ one, Sakura. I know he is. I think I knew that six years ago, when he sacrificed his freedom to save me from Garlin. And I love him so, Sakura. I hope he proposes soon. But you won't prod him to!" Madison said sharply. "Shawn's like Li when it comes to major romantic decision like marriage. He'll propose when he's ready."  
Sakura sighed. "You can say that about your boyfriend, but pester me about mine? You're a contradiction, Madison. A pure contradiction."  
"Well, what about the Patience and Sage thing?" Madison asked curiously.  
Sakura sighed and looked over at Patience, who lay sprawled out in the grass, fanning herself with a magazine. "I think we should help them along a little. You know, like making sure they have plenty of moments together alone, maybe in the park or in the woods. Maybe we could even start up love-letters!"  
"But then you've got the possibility they'll discover they're from us before they do any good. And then where would we be?" Madison pointed out wisely.  
Sakura sighed. "Well, we can still do some little things. Can't we?" Sakura's grin was the most devilish Madison had ever seen.  
"Of course!" Madison said in a low voice, slapping hands with Sakura as they stood and called for Hope to begin the lesson.  
  
Sage looked up from the engine as a cold feeling overtook him. It reminded him sickeningly of icy, frozen water washing over him. He spun around, looking about with furrowed brow. That feeling was coming from somewhere...  
A shadow darted past the garage door. Sage hurried to the doorway, peering out. He just barely spotted the tall, blonde haired girl before she darted around the corner. As she disappeared, the feeling left with her.  
Curious, Sage followed her. She turned down two dark alleys, then skirted across an empty lot. Sage made sure to keep out of sight, following her silently and stealthily.  
She finally stopped. The building she had come to was dark and dilapidated, clearly having seen better days. It appeared as if it had once been a shop of some sort, but now it was boarded up and falling apart. The gaps in the glass-less windows and the hole where the door had been were positively creepy looking, giving the building the appearance of a rotting brick-made skull.  
The girl darted inside. Sage hurried cautiously to the door and looked in. Dark gloom greeted him. He blinked rapidly until his eyes adjusted, then peered about.   
The girl wasn't in the first room, that was for sure. The floor of the room was covered in dust and littered with old, ripped books and a broken chair and table. Sage stepped in warily. Sage's conscience warned him.   
Sage thought back blithely as he continued in.  
Sage had just reached the next doorway when a female voice reached him.  
"Master Aku," the voice said echoingly. "I have answered your summons."  
"Were you followed?" A second, male, cold voice retorted.  
The woman paused before answering. "Of course not. I would have sensed any magickers. And my Invisibility spell kept me hidden from the sight of any mere mortal."  
Sage's heart began thumping faster than usual.   
The man sighed. "The third Power, the boy. His magic is strange. It only appears in uncontrolled flashes. Are you sure he did not see you? You passed by the garage he works at, did you not?"  
Sage could almost imagine the woman nodding uncomfortably. "Yes, but he did not see me."  
"Ah, but did he sense you?"  
"Of course not! I took great care to hide my power. The newcomers from Japan, the girl and the two boys, are too powerful magically for me to stand against, so I took great pains to mask it."  
Sage was beginning to worry.   
There was a strange, rustling sound that caught Sage's attention.  
"Morgog has already met one of the new Powers, a girl. She is very powerful, but as of yet, untrained. She slipped from his grasp because of a Guardian Creature, a powerful Creature belonging to the Japanese sorcereress. He shall lead you to the girl. Fetch her and the others, in any way that would not kill them, and bring them here to me. They will be of use to me."  
Sage's blood ran cold.   
  
Li watched as Sakura began Hope's lessons of Shielding. He couldn't help staring, and smiling slightly as he did so. Sakura looked so beautiful and vibrant today. Her fears during the night had disappeared with the light of day. If only Li's wouldn't persist so doggedly...  
"Hey, buddy," Shawn greeted the preoccupied Li as he dropped down beside him in the grass. "Li?"  
Li turned with a dazed look. "Oh, hi, Shawn."  
"Staring at Sakura again, huh?" Shawn observed.  
Li sighed. "I can't help it. She has that effect on me."  
Shawn grinned. "Sounds like the witchcraft Madison's cast over me. Hey, Li?"  
"Huh?" Li asked absently, returning his gaze to the laughing Sakura.  
"Have you ever thought about marriage?"  
Li jumped in surprise. "What?!?"  
Shawn smiled. "I know you're real close to Sakura. Have you ever thought of proposing to her? Asking her to become Mrs. Li Showron?"  
Li sighed uncomfortably. "Not really..."  
Shawn grinned again. "Li, I know you love her. Remember all the talks we had back in high school about Sakura and Madison?"  
Li smiled. "How could I forget?"  
"Well, if you love her, why don't you propose? I know she's crazy about you. Madison tells me so every night. She'd accept in a heartbeat."  
"But how can you be so sure?" Li asked plaintively unsure.  
Shawn smiled knowingly. "Me and Madison are real tight, Li. And Madison's known Sakura all her life. If Madison thinks she'd accept a proposal from you, then you know she would as certain as if you asked Sakura herself. Just ask her!"  
Li sighed. "It's easier said then done, Shawn. I'm not as brave as you when it comes to matters like that."  
Shawn smiled. "Sure you are. You told Sakura you loved her all those years ago in Paris, didn't you? I know for a fact that it's beyond hard to tell someone you care about them for the first time. Although, by the time I had told Madison, I think she'd already figured it out."  
Li groaned. "That wasn't how it went with Sakura. I cared about her, God did I ever! But she had no clue. I had remained as frosty to her after the Clow Cards had been captured as I ever had. It wasn't until I told her that she knew."  
"Well, then ask her to marry you, Li!" Shawn urged, nudging Li in the ribs. "You know you want to. It's better to ask then pine away and think of all the possible ways she could say no."  
Li sighed again. "I don't know..."  
"Li, between you and me, I'll let you in on something," Shawn said quietly, watching as Madison passed by, carrying glasses of water for Hope and her teacher. "I'm proposing to Madison tonight."  
"What?!?!" Li exclaimed, his eyes widening until they were roughly the size of dinner plates. "Really?!?"  
Shawn nodded solemnly. "Madison's been hinting about the idea for months, and we've known each other for more than six years now. And Madison already told me that she, Sakura and Patience have decided to have a party tonight, something to get Hope's mind off the mage-constuct and Dark magicker. She's been more depressed lately, don't you think?"  
Li nodded absently as Shawn continued without pause. "Anyway, what time would be better to pop the question than tonight? I bought the ring two months ago; I've just been waiting for the perfect time to ask."  
Li grinned. "Good luck, buddy."  
Shawn winked. "Who needs luck when they've got magic? Besides, I'm almost positively, absolutely, completely certain Madison'll say yes." Shawn paused for a moment, looking over at Madison in the way Li had been looking at Sakura a few minutes prior.  
"You know, Li, tonight wouldn't be a bad night for you to get even closer to Sakura. Maybe even ask her how she likes the idea of getting married?"  
At Li's reluctant head shake, Shawn sighed.  
"I tried. I tried. But, really, Li. Don't wait around too long. Sometimes the best things shouldn't be put off too long. You never know what might happen a month or so down the road. Someday, you may regret never asking Sakura while you had the chance." Shawn's eyes were strangely clouded when he said this, and his words sounded wise beyond his years. Shawn blinked and shook his head, a puzzled look over his face.  
"Well, I better go," Shawn said vaguely as he stood and left.  
Li watched Shawn go with a strange feeling creeping down his back. It had been decades, centuries even, since there had been a Seer of the future.   
What if Shawn's words were actually true?  
  
Since she had discovered that Li was already taken, and by none other than Sakura, Patience had been rightfully depressed. But only for a short while. Patience comforted herself with the knowledge that at least she hadn't fallen head over heels for Li. And by the way Sakura and Li talked, it sounded as if they were truly in love. She couldn't be mad over losing her chance with Li if she knew he was with someone he really loved.  
Since she had found out about Li and Sakura's relationship, Patience had begun to notice the tell-tale signs. The way Sakura would look at Li, the way Li would return her soft glances, the way Li always seemed protectively close to Sakura at all times, the smile and sighs Sakura often wore and carried when she was near Li... Inwardly, Patience was surprised she had never noticed them before.  
Patience sighed and broke from her thoughts. She might as well start cooking for the party tonight....  
  
The party had started! Sakura and Li had found Julian on their way to find Sage, and had sent Julian back to the sisters' mansion. Upon arrival, the kind-hearted Julian found himself mobbed by both Hope and Kero; Hope wanted to give him a big hug and greet him, Kero wanted Julian to convince Patience that Kero deserved to be the official food-taster in the kitchens. It wasn't until an hour later, when Sakura and Li returned without Sage, that Kero finally stopped pestering Julian, for Patience and Hope began to bring out the food then.  
"Where's Sage?" Hope whispered to Sakura as she shuffled past her father, who had come out to see what was going on behind the house. Hidden behind Hope was Kero, who was latched onto her shirt back with one paw, and eating a cookie with the other.  
Sakura sighed and shrugged simultaneously. "We don't know. Li and I searched almost the entire town! The Garage, his hotel, the Library.... No one's seen him since after noon, when Tim last saw him working on a car in The Garage. He's vanished into thin air!"  
Hope sighed as well as she set the platter filled with sandwiches on the long picnic table. "That's too bad. You know, I was sort of hoping that we could get Patience and Sage alone together tonight." Sakura smiled, thinking of how that was exactly what she and Madison had been planning on doing.  
Josuah sighed longingly, looking at the spread Patience, Madison and Hope had created that afternoon. Madison and Patience were both wonderful cooks, but Hope took the cake when it came to the dessert creations. Cookies, muffins, cakes, homemade fudge, Hope had made them cheerfully, and Patience swore Hope's desserts tasted better than hers every time, even when they both followed the same instructions and did the exact same things with the exact same ingredients. Josuah sighed again as he left reluctantly.  
"The checkbook needs balancing..." Josuah said sadly when Hope looked over questioningly.  
A bare second after Josuah disappeared inside, Kero dove at the fudge plate. It was only quick thinking on Hope's part that kept Kero from swallowing every bit of fudge, plate and all. The minor Shield spell she had thrown around the desserts held against even Kero's frantic poundings. Kero sighed and resigned himself to his fate; to wait until the others were done before he could eat.  
Everyone (Sakura, Patience, Hope, Li, Shawn, Madison, Julian and Kero), sat down to eat. Less than an hour later - after Patience had lit the many candles about to fight off the effects of the falling twilight - Shawn stood, clearing his throat meaningfully.  
"Everybody, I've got an announcement to make." Shawn said solemnly. Everyone immediately stopped eating, looking at Shawn expectantly. Sakura smacked the gorging Kero reproachfully.  
Shawn stood frozen for a moment under so many expectant eyes, clearing his throat nervously. "I'd like to ask-"  
Just then, Sage burst through the trees, Celos close behind, both gasping for breath and scratched from the undergrowth.  
"Sage!" Sakura and Patience cried in one voice, rushing to the boy as he collapsed. Celos dropped wearily into Hope's outstretched arms, his face drained and sweat-streaked.  
"What's happened?!?" Sakura asked urgently as Sage struggled to regain his breath.  
"I've.... been running.... for .... an hour...." Sage panted out, wincing in pain. There were large rents in his clothing, made by sharp branches and thorns, and raw, bleeding skin could be seen through the holes.  
"Why?" Patience asked worriedly.  
Sage paused for a long moment. "It's.... the.... Dark wizard!!"  
Stunned, horrified silence fell over the previously happy atmosphere. Hope whimpered in fear, stepping backwards until she bumped into the table. Sakura looked tensed and strained, but steady.  
"Exactly what happened, Sage?" Sakura asked firmly.  
Sage winced. "I sensed something strange from a woman. I followed her, and she led me to an old building. I was so curious, I followed her in. That's when I heard her talking with someone. Talking about magic, and Patience and Hope and myself, and about you, Sakura. Then the person she was talking to, some man, ordered her to find Patience and Hope, and that Morgog would lead her. He'd said that Morgog had already met one of the new Powers."  
The stunned silence deepened, broken only by another whimper from the panicking Hope.  
"It's the mage-construct!!" Hope said shrilly, eyes wide in fear. "The mage-construct's the Morgog he was talking about!!"  
"Then what happened, Sage?" Sakura asked desperately.  
"I ran. I ran from the building and into the street. But they must have heard me. A moment later, I heard a horrible growling. I was terrified, and when I looked back, a horrible evil-looking creature was chasing me. I ran for the woods, hoping to escape it in the trees. It's much larger than a cow, and I thought the closely-growing trees would hamper it. Darkness started to fall, and I was hopelessly lost. I was so afraid of being lost in the woods, unable to see, with that demon thing after me. And no matter how far or fast I ran, it was always right at my heels! Then Celos appeared, and began leading me in the right direction. Shortly after Celos appeared, almost a half-hour ago, the thing fell back, like it was tiring."  
Sage peered back through the dark, gloomy trees fearfully. "But, Sakura, it wasn't that far behind me. It'll break free from the trees in any minute!"  
As if his trembling words had been a trigger, a loud, furious bellow rang through the woods. Hope screamed and fell to her knees, cowering with shaking hands over her face. With a flash, both Kero and Julian had transformed. A white, glowing saber appeared in Yue's hands, and Kero's hackles raised as he roared back.  
Sakura quickly took charge. Calling up her wand, she hustled Patience, Hope, Madison and Shawn close to the house, where they were slightly hidden by the shadows. Patience threw a Shield she had just been taught to conjure around herself and the others, then knelt beside the sobbing, shaking Hope. Hope was useless magically, too distraught to think clearly. To everyone's surprise, Shawn also threw a Shield around Patience's Shield to strengthen it, using his magic willingly for one of the first times. Shawn gathered a shaking Madison to him and knelt beside Patience and Hope.  
Kero stood squarely before the Shielded four, making it perfectly clear by his stance and expression that little less than God could move him from his spot. Yue took a spot beside Kero, his usually cold cat-eyes flashing fearfully.  
Li, summoned sword in hand, stood beside Sakura in a fighter's stance, completely prepared to meet the oncoming mage-construct head-on. Sage stood slightly behind the two, shaken but recovering from his run through the woods.  
"Sage, maybe you should stay with the others-" Sakura began as she clutched her wand in white-knuckled hands.  
Sage shook his head wearily, his face white but determined. "I ran from the danger, now I'll stand against it."  
"But, Sage!" Sakura began in a hopeless voice.  
Sage's head shook again. "I'm staying here."  
Just then, to make things even worse, Jade and Josuah rounded the corner. Jade skidded to a stop with a scream, her eyes wide as she stared at Yue and Kero. Josuah grabbed his wife by the arm as she came dangerously close to tottering over.  
"What the-" Josuah gasped out as Sakura and Li spun about, wand and sword at hand.  
"Mammy! Pappy!" Patience cried. Hope looked up from her sobbing for a brief moment at the sound of Patience's voice.  
"Yue!" Sakura cried. There wasn't time to explain now. The sounds of the mage-construct crashing through the trees were becoming more pronounced. "Get them in the Shield!"  
Without a word of explanation, Yue grabbed the stunned couple by the arms, tossing them towards the Shielded four easily. Patience grabbed her silent parents and pulled them through the Shields, then strengthened the barriers.  
Celos squeezed from Hope's clutching arms and sped through the Shield. With a snarl-like howl, Celos's red, feathery butterfly wings encircled him.  
Sage, Sakura and Li spun about in surprise as the wings parted, revealing Celos's transformed form.  
Resembling a giant red-furred panther mixed in genetic makeup with a large, deadly looking fox, Celos's wings were more feathery than butterfly now, and a burnished redish bronze. His long, bristle-like tail snaked about wildly as he tossed his head restlessly. A thing made of silver, studden with emeralds and amber, that slightly resembled a helmet covered Celos's head, his ears poking from either side. A breast-plate stretched down to cover Celos's orange-furred chest, kept in place by a very thick silver chain about Celos's neck. A large egg-like gem of amber studded the breast-plate. Celos's fiery, slanted cat-eyes glowed and flashed with an unnatural light. A giant silver stud pierced Celos's nose, and long orange whiskers drooped to the ground as Celos padded forward, his thick orange paws and long red claws leaving scratches and indents in the ground as he walked.  
"Master," Celos rumbled. His voice was deep and husky, but soft, resembling the sound of crackling embers. "I am Celosrata, at your command."  
Celos bowed his head nobly, Sage staring in dumbfounded surprise.  
"You.... you can transform?!?" Sage whispered out.  
Celos nodded gravely.  
"But Master, do you think you are yet strong enough to stand up against such a powerful mage-construct?" Celos rumbled, eyes glittering. "I am slightly stronger than Keroberos in this form; I can easily take the mage-construct on my own."  
Sage shook his head. "You protect the others. They need more protection than I do."  
"Yes, that may be," Celos agreed. "But ~you~ are my Master, and I was created and ordered centuries ago to protect you with my life."  
Sage didn't have a chance to argue, for just then the mage-construct leaped through the trees, eyes and teeth glittering, human-like hands with unhuman-like claws outstretched.  
  
  
So, you like? How do you like Celosrata? It's only one syllable, in case anyone was wondering how the hell you pronounce it.  
Any ideas or suggestions, send them care of: Ms. Raye Sinic (or) Raye Firearrows, jsmiklavcic@cs.com, or just do the easy thing and REVIEW!!!! If you e-mail, my partner Ms. Sinic'll get to read it before me.  
Next chap's gonna have:  
The battle with the construct, the appearance of the Darkness's henchwoman - Katalia -, and Patience's sadness. Will Sage survive the next chapter? Or will the new Powers lose one of their number?  
Please REVIEW as soon as possible. I love to hear from all of you!! Flames, suggestions, comments, raves, whatever floats yer boat, just send me a personal message about how much I suck, for all I care! I'm desperate for contact with other humans! REVIEW!!! 


	9. Chapter Nine: Sage's Sickness, and Li Br...

You Set Me Free, You Give My Heart WingsPart Two (Contin.): The Middle  
  
Just got back from school.... I'm so tired.... I've an ache in my side from running up and down stairs, being jostled by big seniors, and sprinting across the parking lot just in time for gym with every book from every class banging into my back through my backpack, and ~NOW~ I've got giant bruises on my shoulders from my pack's straps. No homework though, and in three or so weeks we've got Homecoming, and Mr. Madsen said none of the teachers are supposed to give us homework that week, so we can get all the things done for Homecoming.  
I've got my classes down pat, and actually know my way around now; that at least is a small comfort.  
Well, I'll stop griping now and get started on the fic.  
No need to clap, it's all in day's work.  
  
{Disclaimer}  
Here's yet another collection of.... Rayeisms!  
Have you been drinking milk from a rusty bucket again, no-brains?  
Hi, I'm Larry the Shivering Chipmunk. Brrr.... I'm cold. I need a sweater.  
Sorry I'm late, but I wasn't on time.  
Shin: A device for finding furniture in the dark.  
I live in a dark cubicle-like cell at Zellers, 4 I tried to kill Clamp 4 not selling CCS or MKR 2 moi.  
Hucked on Phernocs wurked fer me! {Hooked on Phonics worked for me!, for all you illiterate thicks...}  
And the daily words to live by:  
Happiness is a warm puppy with an empty bladder.  
  
Chapter Nine: Sage's Sickness, And Li Breaks His Promise....  
  
Sakura's Sword Card and Li's sword swung down as one, the blades flashing brightly before the construct's face, blocking it in its lunge towards Sage. Sage had involuntarily taken a giant step back in surprise, but now recovered by calling up a ball of flames. Clutching the red ball tightly, Sage let Sakura and Li make the first move against the construct.  
Jade screamed in fear as the construct stepped back, tossing its snorting head wildly, eyes rolling madly. Josuah pulled the distraught woman closer and held her tightly, his own eyes wide and glassy in fear. Hope was mumbling beneath her breath in terror, rocking back and forth with glazed eyes. Patience patted her sister as comfortingly as she could, but watched Sage with fearful eyes. He looked so white and drawn out there... If only he'd come and stay in the Shield, where it was safe!  
"These things aren't supposed to be real!!" Jade whispered in a fear-choked voice to Josuah as she clutched him tightly. "They're only supposed to be in books!! That's where they should stay!!"  
"Mammy, don't worry," Patience murmured reassuringly. "We're all in a Shield, and Shawn's helping me strengthen it while we've the chance. Nothing can get through here."  
"Yes, Mrs. Dalie," Shawn spoke up, backing up Patience. "And even if the construct gets past Li and Sakura, which is highly unlikely, Kero and Yue'll protect us. And Celos, too."  
Jade looked none comforted by this; she still had no idea what they were talking about or what was going on.  
Celos crouched, preparing to launch himself into the air. But Kero's sharp, gruff voice stopped the Guardian Creature.  
"Don't! Celosrata, your Master gave you his orders." Kero said in a no-argument tone.  
Celos looked back at Kero, his eyes flashing. "My Master is in danger, Keroberos! He is ill-equipped to stand against this demon-construct, and I am sworn to protect him!"  
"Keroberos is right, Celosrata." Yue said in his soft, but equally firm voice, conjuring up his light-made bow and arrows. "You obey your Master's orders. If he becomes life-threatened, ~then~ you protect him. But not before! You must not shelter him so."  
Celos's wings folded back, but the look Celos bestowed on Kero and Yue chilled Patience. "I shall wait..."  
The construct suddenly dove again, to the left of Sakura, trying to work its way behind her to the Shielded group. She quickly discouraged that idea by lashing out with the Sword Card, leaving a long rent in Sword's wake. The construct wailed in pain, leaping away from the lashing Sword.  
The construct paused a few feet out of Sakura's reach, pawing restlessly at the loamy ground. The creature snorted, its eyes wild, the slash on its side dripping dark green blood.  
"You've hurt Morgog!" The construct bellowed furiously  
Sakura pulled out another Card, glaring furiously at the construct. "That was the idea!"  
Morgog bellowed and lowered his canine head, charging towards Sakura.  
"Float Card!" Sakura cried, slamming the wand tip on the Card. Morgog cried out in surprise as the pinkish globe surrounded him, floating him up from the ground and hovering him over the trees.  
"Float Card, Return!" Sakura cried venomously as Morgog hovered over the pointed, many branched trees. With a howl, Morgog crashed down at the trees.  
Patience and Sage winced at the wracking crash.  
"Morgog was a fool to take the direct aproach," A cold, feminine voice mocked, high above the Shielded group.  
Sakura, Li and Sage whirled about in surprise. Perched on the top of the roof above the Shield was a tall, blonde-haired woman. Her hair pooled about her blue slippered feet, tied back from her icy white eyes in a strict ponytail. The robes she wore somewhat resembled those Meilin wore, only blue and white instead of red. And instead of bells on the ends of each sleeve, this woman had black sun charms. She was very pretty, but there was a coldness about her that made her seem unfriendly and chilling.  
Before Li or Sakura could move, the woman leaped from the roof, flipping backwards as she landed gracefully between Yue, Kero and the Shield.  
Patience's eyes widened in surprise. "Who are you?!?"  
The woman smiled icily. "Death, child. Katalia."  
Spinning, Katalia flung a hand up quickly. Yue, who had just been about to let his taunt arrow fly, was flung upwards by a violent earth-shake. Before the Guardian had the chance to regain control or use his wings, Katalia grinned and twisted her other hand upwards.  
Out of the clear black sky, a small funnel cloud dipped down, engulfing Yue.  
"YUE!!!!" Sakura screamed.  
Kero roared and dove at the blue-and-white robed woman, but Katalia imperiously threw up her other hand, flinging Kero into the air, where he too was sucked into a giant funnel.  
"This can't be true!" Li gasped out. "She's got Weather magic!!"  
Katalia smiled sweetly, a smile that hid a dangerous poison. "How very astute of you, young Wolf."  
A giant crash rang out as a dark form leaped once more from the trees. It was Morgog, but he was injured. A thick back leg was shattered and dragged behind the construct uselessly. A large, pointed tree branch had speared through the construct's right shoulder, and one eye had been blinded with a sharp twig, which still stuck from the bleeding eyesocket.  
"Morgog shall avenge his hurts!" The construct bellowed, crashing forward. Sakura, caught by surprise, was flung aside painfully, cracking her head against a tree trunk. Somehow, Morgog managed to duck Li's swinging sword, continuing onwards towards the frozen-still Sage.  
"DO SOMETHING, SAGE!!!" Patience screamed frantically. Celos's worried howl echoed with Patience's scream as the Guardian Creature flung himself heedlessly towards his endangered Master.  
A sudden blast of a fiery red light engulfed Sage and Morgog as the two collided. Even Katalia had to look away from the intense light.  
Tears stung Patience's eyes for more reason than one. Had Sage survived? Or was it just down to her and her sister?  
Li rushed to the unconscious Sakura's side. "Sakura!"  
A groan assured Li she was still breathing, but a large gash adorned Sakura's forehead. Li hastily threw a Shield around them, looking back as the intense light died away. Had the construct succeeded? Had Morgog destroyed poor, defenseless Sage, soul and all?  
  
Sage kneeled on one knee, both hands raised before him, palms outward. A surprised look of relief was clear in his weary eyes.  
Morgog's body lay smoking barely a foot away. The construct's head had been burned away, reducing the blocky neck to charred, singed ash.  
Patience felt weak with relief, and leaned wearily against the cold stone wall.  
Katalia laughed cruelly. "Stupid beast. It was all he deserved."  
Celos whirled about, eyes so fiery they looked as if twin fire globes. "You, witch, shall pay for endangering my Master!!"  
Katalia threw a hand up carelessly, intending to fling Celos into another funnel cloud like Kero and Yue. But Celosrata was too quick for the sorceress, and dodged aside, wings flapping strongly. Feathers drifted behind the Guardian, dissolving in clumps of fire before they ever touched the ground.  
Seeing that Celos was coming in for a quicker attack than she could counter, Katalia spun about, hands raising as she faced the Shield.  
Madison, Patience and Jade screamed as the Shield was forceably ripped away by an extremely violent earth upheaveal. Madison thought quickly and caught Jade and Josuah by the arms, pulling them into the corner of the building with her. Shawn grabbed Patience and Hope's arms, pulling them closer to him, in front of Madison and the parents.  
Katalia snickered as she threw a hand backwards, throwing up an invisible wall between herself and Celos. With a crash, the Guardian smashed into the wall, crumpling half unconscious beside it.  
"Oh, you poor liddle babies," Katalia murmured in a patronizing voice. Li called off his Shield and rushed to Sage, who was dazed and weak, but otherwise okay. "Do you need some help?"  
Hope suddenly snapped from the mindless fear she had fallen into, the helpless look in her eyes replaced with cold determination and hatred. "Don't mess with us. Leave us alone, and we won't hurt you!"  
Katalia smiled patronizingly. "You really think you can hurt me? That's pitiful, really."  
Li looked up helplessly at the still funnel-encased Kero and Yue. I hope they're okay!  
Kero's voice filled Li's worried mind.   
Yue added.   
As Katalia's hands raised palm up, a flash of light pulsed from Shawn. When the brief glow had faded, it was revealed that Shawn now held a half-staff topped with a white, swirling globe.  
Li's jaw dropped open as he looked over at Shawn. It was unbelievable the amount of magic that was surrounding and pulsing around him! Shawn had actually unleashed the whole of his magic!  
"To get to them, you'll have to go through me first." Shawn said stolidly, raising his now sparking staff.  
Katalia smiled thinly. "Such a naive young child. You are powerless to stop me."  
"Maybe," Shawn said slowly. "But that doesn't mean I can't try my best."  
Katalia laughed shrilly. "Which will be more pathetic than my smallest attempt."  
Hope clutched Patience's right hand in her left, a determined look on her face. "Patience?"  
"Yes?" Patience whispered back in a trembling voice.  
"Do you remember what Sakura mentioned about linking?"  
"Well, you have to be in physical contact with the one you're linking with, and then you have to drain your internal magic into that person," Patience whispered back quickly, eyes darting from the smirking Katalia to the determined Shawn who stood slightly before them.  
Hope nodded, resting her free hand on Shawn's shoulder. He was so busy glaring at Katalia as he called upon his magic, he didn't even notice the touch. Patience quickly saw what Hope was doing, and rested her own free hand on Shawn's other shoulder.  
Katalia sighed wearily and raised her hands. "I'll be rid of you now and be done with it. My Master wishes for me to bring the Powers to him, but I shall just tell him that they resisted beyond redemption. I know he won't blame me for your destructions."  
Four things happened all at once, so quickly no one could later determine what had happened first. Shawn, powered by Patience and Hope, blasted Katalia with a white stream of light-enfused magic. Celos threw his massive weight against the invisible wall, shattering it into glittering shards. Sage dashed desperately towards the endangered Patience, Hope and Shawn. And Katalia lobbed a powerful, sparking ball of leecherous black magic.  
The white beam from Shawn struck Katalia, sending her reeling straight into the paws of Celos. The Guardian Creature managed one massive swipe of his giant paws, leaving five identical bloody green trails along Katalia's back. With a shrill scream, Katalia disappeared before further damage could be inflicted upon her.  
But the thing that made Patience scream in despair was what had befallen Sage. The most of the black ball Katalia had thrown had been dissolved in Shawn's white blast. But a small remnant had struck the hapless Sage.  
Sage collapsed weakly, pale and motionless. Patience fell weakly to her knees beside Sage, her head ringing painfully. Sakura's words echoed cruelly through her numbed, aching head.  
~"You know, if she hadn't been watching you so much, she probably would have noticed that Sage was staring at her constantly."~  
Had Sage wanted to have a relationship with her? Had she lost someone who could have been even closer to her?  
Shawn knelt beside Sage, resting a hand gently on his neck, looking for a pulse. A sigh of relief escaped him as the tenseness left Shawn's eyes.  
"He's alive; barely, but alive."  
Kero and Yue suddenly landed beside Li. When Katalia had fled, her magic cyclones had disappeared as well. Kero and Yue immediately, gratefully, fled to their hidden forms. Celos hovered over to Shawn and Patience, drained and weak looking, already shrunken to his usual form.  
"My Master's alive?" Celos questioned forlornly.  
Shawn nodded then stepped back.  
"Will you be okay?" Li asked worriedly, helping Sakura to sit up. Sakura moaned and clutched her head.  
"It hurts so bad, Li." Sakura whispered as she allowed Li to gently pick her up. She nestled gratefully against his chest, wearily encircling his neck with her arms.  
Josuah, now that nothing stranger than Kero and Celos hovered about, stood and appeared slightly recollected after his scares and surprises. "Will he be okay?" He asked Patience as he looked down worriedly at the collapsed Sage.  
Patience nodded with difficulty, her throat and eyes stinging painfully. "So Shawn says. But, Pappy, please call a doctor!"  
  
Li sighed wearily. Sage's condition hadn't improved, but at least he hadn't deteriorated further. He lay unconcious in one of the spare bedrooms, pale and barely-breathing. The doctor, of course, hadn't a clue as to why Sage was this way, let alone how to fight the strange sickness. After Sakura had rested and recovered from her awful headache, she had sadly declared that Sage had magic-poisoning. Magic-poisoning was a serious thing; it didn't look good for Sage. The only reason he was still alive was the fact that his pure magic was combating the dark magic coursing through his veins. If he had been a non-magicker, he would have long ago died.  
After Sage had been installed in his room, Patience had left for town with a determined look. She returned an hour later. She had tracked down Tim, the owner of The Garage, and had explained that Sage wouldn't be coming to work for a few weeks. He'd been in a terrible accident and was in a bad way. When Sakura had looked at her questioningly about her actions, Patience had sighed, replying, "I owe it to him to make sure he doesn't get fired."  
It was very late before Li finally got to sleep. Given the current circumstances and the lateness of the evening, Jade and Josuah (when they had finally recovered the ability to speak) had demanded that the five from Japan, the Guardian Creatures, and Sage stay at the mansion until things were finally sorted out. And given Sage's condition, that would be for a very long time.  
Li fell into an uneasy sleep, Sakura's steady breathing in the bed beside his finally lulling him to sleep.  
But Li's dreams were not restful. Wherever he turned, horrible pictures played across his vision. He saw Shawn collapsing beneath a magic overload, Madison struggling to save her love and dying because of it, Patience and Hope being snatched away by a dark, laughing figure, Sage withering away to nothingness, Celos committing suicide in his despair.... Katalia laughed insanely at every corner as Kero died in a blazing fireball, as Yue's wings collapsed and he plummetted downwards to his death. Everywhere he looked, he saw pictures of his friends and loved ones dying. Meilin was snatched up by the laughing darkness, his mother and sisters were each lying dead, their throats slit. And he watched helplessly as Sakura died, impaled upon his own sword, held by the grinning, laughing dark shadow.  
And through it all, a laughing voice keened. ~It's all your fault, Li Showron! You allowed yourself to become too close to others! They shall pay, and suffer, and die because of you! Sakura will die, all because of you!! You let yourself get too close to others, too close to others, too close to others--~  
Li bolted upright in terror.  
  
The next day, Sakura began to worry about Li. He was unusually pensive and quieter than usual.  
"Li?" Sakura asked softly as she sat beside him beneath the oak tree. Li's head jerked up in surprise, fear filling his eyes. But the fear slowly drained away, replaced with a guilty and longing expression.  
"What's the matter?" Sakura asked worriedly, resting a gentle hand on Li's arm.  
Li flinched away from her touch, pulling his arm from her grasp. "Nothing. Just go away."  
Sakura stared in disbelief. Li was never this cold and harsh to her... Something was definitely wrong.  
"Li, you can tell me anything!" Sakura urged, edging closer. "You know that."  
A strange look crossed Li's face as he edged away from Sakura. Sakura was hurt by this. "Just go away and leave me alone, Sakura."  
"Not until you tell me what's wrong," Sakura said as firmly as she could. "I love you, Li. You shouldn't have to suffer or worry about something alone."  
Li stood jerkily, a heartbreaking look in his eyes. "Sakura, I can't..."  
"Yes you can!" Sakura countered, standing as well. "Li, you can trust in me!"  
"But I can't!" Li cried, as if more to himself than to Sakura. An unusual, uncalled for fear darkened Li's soft amber eyes, and he was so tense and high-strung. "I can't hurt you, Sakura!"  
"Hurt me?" Sakura echoed, confused. "You could never hurt me."  
"But I could, and I can!" Li cried, clutching his hands into fists and staring down at the ground rather than daring to look Sakura in the eyes. "Sakura, I...."  
"What is it?" Sakura asked in a concerned way, taking a step forward.  
"I don't love you anymore!" Li cried, spinning about before Sakura could see the tears of pain in his eyes.  
Sakura was so surprised and stunned, she was speechless for a long moment. Tears filled Sakura's eyes as she slowly felt her heart breaking.  
"You can't mean that..." Sakura whispered weakly, thinking of all the times they'd spent together, the things they'd said... They'd lasted as a couple for over seven years, through several people who had wanted to break them up, through near-death battles and experiences. And now he was just throwing all that away?!?  
Li gritted his teeth as his nails dug into his palms. He willed his voice to remain as cold, steady and unfeeling as he could. "I do. I'm sorry, but I just don't love you anymore."  
"When did you realize this?!?" Sakura whispered as tears began to fall. Her beloved Li was telling her he no longer loved her?!?  
"Last night. I thought about a lot of things last night. And I've decided that since I no longer have feelings for you, and since Sage is an invalid, there's no real reason for me to stay here any longer."   
"But..." Sakura began hopelessly, unbelieving that this could be happening.   
"I'm going to catch a plane back to Hong Kong in a few days. I wish you the best of luck with your life, Sakura. Goodbye." Li's voice was so very harsh. He didn't even turn to look Sakura in the eyes before he walked off coldly, across the lawns and through the trees, headed for the apartment they shared in town.  
Sakura dropped to her knees, her legs no longer strong enough to support her. Warm sunlight and cool shadow danced down upon her as she sobbed in pain and heartbreak.  
Sakura thought weakly, pain-wracked.  
Li paused just out of sight. Leaning against a tree for support, Li allowed hot tears to fall. This was the only way it could be... If he stayed, the others would die. And he could never ~ever~ put Sakura or ANY of his friends in that sort of danger.  
"Goodbye, Sakura," Li whispered painfully. "I love you."  
  
~I know I had to go away,  
I died just a little,   
And I feel it now.  
You're the one I need,  
I believe that I would cry just a little,  
Just to have you back now.  
Here with me.  
Here with me.~  
  
  
AHHHHHH!!!!!! PLEASE DON'T BURN ME AT THE STAKE!! THERE'S AT LEAST FOUR MORE CHAPTERS {probably more than that} LEFT TO GO!!! DON'T SET THE KINDLING A-FIRE JUST YET!! PLEASE!!!  
Next chap's gonna have:  
Patience's nursing Sage back to health {awwww}, Hope's new love interest, Katalia and Aku, and Li's and Sakura's heartbreak. Be prepared for flashbacks, old memories of the good old days gone by, and plenty of heartwrenching sorrow in the next couple of chaps. If there's one thing I'm good at writing, it's sadness and heartbreak scenes!  
I accomplished them in Nexus, I accomplished them in Wave Realm, I accomplished them in Faerie Realm! And I'll be damned if I don't accomplish them in Death Realm! {A'sN: For all of those out there like o_O, Nexus, Wave Realm and Faerie Realm are all BOOKS I've written that I AM GOING TO GET PUBLISHED ~SOMEDAY~! And Death Realm is the ending book of the series that I've yet to write.}  
Keep sendin' them REVIEWS!! And thanx 4ever for all of my dear, few, (three) fans out there, for my partner Ms. Sinic, and my other ~crazy~ pals - Max, Psycho, Ameoba Boy, and the countless other friends and foes alike!!  
P.S.- I promise, Max, that I'll buckle down just as soon as I can and start writin' the chatting to our Dark Angel fic! Promise! *(^-^)*  
P.P.S.- The song exerpt mentioned was by Michelle Branch, from The Spirit Room, and the song's called Here With Me. Just in case anyone wanted to know. *(^-^)* 


	10. Chapter Ten: Demon Trucks From Hell, and...

You Set Me Free, You Give My Heart WingsPart Two (Contin.): The Middle  
  
  
I know you probably all hate me now-  
Everyone: We do! We do!  
But this was the way it had to be.  
Ms. Sinic (hysterically): No it isn't! No it isn't! Everyone's supposed to be happily ever after in the end!  
THIS IS MY STORY, NOT YOURS! I'LL WRITE WHATEVER I DAMN WELL PLEASE!!  
Sorry, Heaven.  
Ms. Sinic: I hate you!  
Well, let's get started now, shall we? Before I make any more of my friends hate me.  
Ameoba Boy: Too late.  
  
{Disclaimer}  
Things I can claim ownership to:  
My fic ~ideas~, and the characters that never appeared in any animes. My own stories. My dogs Jessie and Gidget. My personal slave, my brother Alex. My (for now) boyfriend Ameoba Boy. My extensive anime and fantasy collection.  
And my immense attack-spider K.C., which weighs 176 lbs, 24 oz. in counting....  
But, I sadly cannot claim ownership to Sakura, Li, Madison, Kero, Yue, Tori, Julian or Sakura's Dad and Madison's Mom.  
  
Chapter Ten: Demon Trucks From Hell, and Li's One Condition....  
  
Patience sat silently by Sage's bedside, watching him with worried, concerned eyes. Madison came to the door and paused, watching the girl and the unconscious boy that lay motionless on the bed before her.  
Patience looked up as Madison entered quietly. "Hello, Madison. How's Sakura?"  
Madison sighed as she paused at the foot of Sage's bed. "Not very good. She's too depressed, Patience. I've never seen happy-go-lucky Sakura this upset before."  
"It's not everyday that you lose someone you truly love." Patience murmured softly.  
Madison nodded with a heavy sigh. "What I just don't get is why Li would do such a thing. Both Shawn and I know he's madly in love with Sakura. He's so protective of her, he'd never hurt her the way he did last week.  
Patience shrugged helplessly. "He had his reasons. And you know as well as I that he didn't leave because he lost his love for Sakura. Something happened to Li the night the construct and witch-bitch attacked."  
Madison nodded in agreement, pausing for a moment more in thought before leaving the room. "I need to speak with Shawn."  
Patience looked back over at Sage's pale face. He was slightly better; it was easier for him to breathe now, but he'd been in a coma-like state for a week. They had finally been forced to obtain an iv to keep him alive. And the prospects of Sage ever waking, even with his magic and Celos battling against the magic poisoning to keep him alive, was becoming slimmer and slimmer each day.  
In turn, Patience was becoming thinner and paler as a result. Nearly every night, she kept a steady vigil at Sage's bedside. This had been surprising to everyone; it wasn't as if Patience or Sage knew each other very well, or were that close.  
But Hope could somewhat understand why her sister kept her ever-present vigil. Patience was genuinely concerned for Sage, and it was clear knowledge that Sage seemed to have wished for a closer relationship with her. Maybe his admiring, covert glances had been noticed, and Patience wished to become closer as well.  
It was a ready enough explanation.  
  
Sakura sat listlessly on the windowseat of her temporary bedroom. She rested her flushed cheek against the cold glass, watching the glittering gold of life flash and pass her by uninterestedly.  
Tears welled in her eyes as her mind drifted, as it always had these past long days, to thoughts of Li. The day they had met, so many years ago, had been a day like today - sunny, peaceful, ordinary. But her meeting Li had been far from ordinary. In fact, Sakura had thought it was fate and destiny. It had seemed so right to be with Li; that couldn't have been wrong. Li couldn't possibly really mean what he had said a week ago; the kisses they'd shared said so much more, and when they talked Li had always been so candid, honest, geniuine.  
How could it be that she now felt so alone and unwanted? How could she cry herself to sleep each night? When she did find enough solace to sleep, that is. At nights a depressing song would run through her head, entertwined with her sorrowful thoughts.  
~I tried so hard,  
And got so far,  
But in the end,  
It doesn't even matter.  
I had to fall,  
To lose it all,  
And in the end,  
It doesn't even matter.~  
How could Li have broken his promise? Li had never broken a promise, no matter how small or trivial. And the promise he gave to Sakura had been far from trivial.  
Tears dripped down hot to dot the comfortable chamille windowseat cover. The glass Sakura leaned against fogged as she stifled her sobs.  
  
Madison gently rested her head against Shawn's arm, sighing deeply.  
"What's bothering you?" Shawn reacted unconsciously to the sigh.  
Madison sighed again as she sat, worry clouding her gray-blue eyes. "It's Sakura, Shawn. And Li. I so wonder why he would have ever put her through this hell. All she does all day is sit on that windowseat and sigh." Madison's eyes met Shawn's concerned hazel. "I'm worried about her, Shawn. Very worried. She's more depressed than I've ever seen. Dangerously so."  
"Well, the only reason Li would do this to either of them is if he felt he was putting her in danger by being near her. Maybe he thinks if he can somehow make her think he no longer wants her, that she won't follow after him and get hurt in the process," Shawn said reasonably. "You're right, Madison. It's dangerous to let Sakura stay so depressed. We're going to go and find Li, and bring him back no matter how stubborn a jackass he is!"  
Madison stared in surprised as this firm Shawn. "You're completely right, love!"  
  
Hope sighed as she hurried out of the grocery store, clutching her bags tightly.   
Hope was so preoccupied with her melancholy thoughts, she wasn't watching where she was going. The thought-immersed girl began crossing the street, eyes down at the ground she walked. She didn't even hear the truck as it sped towards her.  
"Watch out!!" Someone screamed. Hope looked up in surprise, her eyes widening in terror as she saw the oncoming truck.  
With a screech, the truck skidded to a stop as someone tackled Hope, knocking her from the truck's path.  
Hope pushed herself up on a shaking, unsteady arm as she shook her unruly auburn curls from her relieved eyes. The boy that had pushed her from danger sat a few feet away, staring with wide brown eyes at the car that had nearly ran the both of them over. A long black skidmark stretched off behind the blue truck.  
Hope sat and sighed. "Thank you so much."  
The boy ran a shaky hand through his blonde hair. "You're welcome."  
"My name's Hope," Hope said as she stood and offered a hand to help her rescuer up. He took it gratefully.  
"My name's Leo. Now, Hope, you watch where you're going from now on. I don't plan on doing that any time soon, okay?"  
Hope smiled her sunniest, dazzling Leo. "Sure thing! Thanks, Leo!"  
"You kids watch where you're going next time!!" The truck driver yelled angrily before stepping on the gas and speeding off to wreak even more havok on hapless daydreamers crossing streets.  
As Hope knelt to recover her spilled groceries, Leo bent to help her. While he reached for a runaway can of minestrone soup, Hope took the time to study him discreetly.  
He looked to be about her age, eighteen or nineteen. His hair was short and spiked, and a dusky blonde in color. His eyes were a warm, golden brown, and to Hope's observant eyes, they seemed to hold an inner humor. He looked slightly shaken, disheveled and scraped from his tackling save of Hope from the demon truck, but was overall good looking. He was certainly brave enough to risk his own life to save hers, and didn't seem greedy. He could have easily asked for a reward for saving her, and yet he hadn't even made the slightest hint.  
Hope stretched to grab a just-out-of-reach apple. Leo watched her covertly as she did so, surprising himself. He was quite a loner, but nature and desire. He barely ever wished to make friends, and his duty was very ensconced at home. And here he was staring curiously at this girl he had saved.  
She had dark auburn-red, extremely curly hair, and ice-blue eyes that sparkled. Her rose-red lips seemed permanently quirked into a smile, even now, after such a close call. She was rather short in height, but well-balanced in weight and size. She outwardly gave the impression of an energetic, usually carefree person. In fact, she somewhat reminded Leo of a mix of a spry, mischevious elf, and Leo's younger sister. This Hope and Nadissa looked nothing alike, of course; Nadissa had very long, perfectly straight brown hair and gray-green eyes, was much taller and a bit on the plump side. But they both seemed to radiate the same feeling of internal happiness. In fact, the feeling was so strong, Leo could almost feel and taste it.  
"Here you go," Leo said briskly as he handed Hope her slightly tattered paper bag filled with the groceries he'd collected. "You watch where you're going from now on, okay?"  
Hope smiled winningly. "Y'know, Leo, I'd like to reward you for your help."  
Leo shook his head with a smile. "I didn't throw myself in front of a truck to get rewarded. You were in trouble, I helped you, that's final."  
Hope shook her head determinedly. "Well, at least come and meet my parents. I'm sure they'll want to thank you in person."  
Leo sighed. Hope seemed to really want him to come, and he'd made it a rule in the past to never refuse a pretty girl. "Well, let me stop by my house first, to tell my mom where I'll be. She gets worried if I'm late coming home." Leo had to fight to keep from revealing more. He didn't want any pity from this pretty girl. And if he told her about his mother's cancer, that would certainly be all he'd get.  
"Do you mind if I come with you? I think I'd like to meet your mother," Hope said eagerly. "As long as you don't live too far from here."  
Leo smiled and shook his head. "Nah, it's only a few blocks away. You can come if you really want to."  
As Hope followed this boy down the street, her hands full of her groceries, her mind was in a turmoil. Was she doing a smart thing by inviting this boy to the house, or in following him to his? What if he really had an alterior motive for saving her life? Could he be the Dark magicker, or in league with him?  
But inwardly Hope knew that wasn't true. Sakura and Li had both made it clear that she would sense any nearby magickers, their allies or creations. She had certainly sensed that mage-construct in the woods; she'd never forget that creepy, being-watched feeling. And she didn't sense anything magical from Leo.  
And Hope was also slow to be suspicious of anyone. It was a horrible fault, but Hope more oftener than not took everyone at face value, never worrying about a darker, deeper past or personality.  
And this boy didn't seem at all bad; the complete opposite in fact. Hope was almost glad she was following him instead of walking home alone.  
And maybe, with that crazed Dark magicker on the loose, it was best to be with a truly friendly stranger rather than being alone.  
  
"Nadissa!" Cecile called from her windowside wheelchair. "Leo's home, and he's brought someone with him!"  
Nadissa hurried in, her face wearily lined, to peek out the window. Her sixteenth birthday was less than a month away, and she already looked twice her age. The weight and reponsibility of taking care of a usually bedridden, dying mother was hard for the girl to shoulder. Nadissa sighed and left the room. "I've got to do the laundry, Mom."  
Leo took the steps leading to the front door two at a time, pausing momentarily for Hope to catch up. Leo had longer legs than she did, after all.  
"This is your house?" Hope breathed in awe, her face shining in delight. This little brick cottage-like house was closer to Hope's own home than she had thought, and was backed by the woods that encircled the entire town of Rocky Wood.  
The house was a tiny, red-bricked affair, which probably only held a few small rooms, a tiny attic and a modest basement. The door and shutters on the two front windows were a dark black, and two twin flower-boxes hung beneath each opened window. Violets and snapdragons bent towards Hope on the wind, bright and inviting. Two little bushes grew beneath each window, and a small garden plot was set beside the front porch, filled with daises, poppies and snapdragons.  
"It's not much," Leo began in an apologetic tone. "Mom inherited it from Pops when he died a while back. We haven't really changed it that much since then."  
"Oh, I think it's absolutely perfect!" Hope said cheerfully, jostling a bag so she could lean over the railing of the tiny black front porch till she got a closer look at a flower-box's occupants. "It looks like such a friendly, open place! I can almost imagine little kids dashing in and out the door laughing."  
Leo smiled at the raptured look on Hope's face as he tried the door. It wasn't locked, so he opened it and gestured for Hope to follow him inside.  
"Leo!! Where've you been?!?" Cecile demanded, wheeling herself into the main room with a worried look on her face. "You're nearly an hour late!"  
Hope smiled at Cecile warmly. "Hello, ma'am! Are you Leo's mother?"  
Leo stared at Hope in surprise.   
This hadn't escaped Cecile either, and she was grateful that this friendly young lady didn't seem prejudiced towards handicaps. "Why, yes I am! My name's Cecile Davisk. And what's your name, young lady?"  
Hope grinned. "My name's Hope Dalie, Mrs. Davisk."  
"And where did you become unlucky enough to run into my son?" Cecile joked amiably.  
"Well, your son saved my life a couple hours ago." Hope said bluntly and nonchalantly.  
"What?!?" Cecile exclaimed.  
Leo sighed. "Hope wasn't watching where she was going, and was nearly run over by some idiot truck driver."  
"Thank goodness you were there, Leo!!!" Cecile exclaimed, throwing her hands up for emphasis. "Well, young lady, would you like to stay for dinner? It's getting awfully late."  
Despite the fact it was barely afternoon, Hope sighed regretfully. "I'd love to, but I really must be getting home. I just came by with Leo to see if he could come over to my house and meet my parents."  
Cecile smiled warmly. "Well, of course he can, Ms. Hope. And you're welcome here any time you wish, okay? Now, you two just hurry off, and Leo, please be home before ten, dear." Cecile said hastily as she wheeled quickly from the room.  
Hope looked over at Leo worriedly. "Did I say something wrong?"  
"No," Leo said simply, shaking his head. "Mom just needs to take her medication and treatment now. She gets sick if she doesn't take them in time."  
"Oh," Hope said sympathetically. "What's wrong with your mother? If you don't mind me asking."  
Leo sighed. "I don't mind. Everyone asks anyway. Mom's got lung cancer. My sister and I have to stay at home most of the time, to keep an eye on her. She doesn't want to stay in a hospital, so we have to stay at home a lot to make sure she's okay and that she's got all her medicines."  
"I wondered why I've never seen you before in school," Hope reflected.  
Leo nodded slightly. "My sister and I are homeschooled. Mom needs us too often for us to be able to leave for school every weekday."  
Nadissa was passing by the living room doorway with a hamper of clothes in her hands, but stopped dead in her tracks as she saw Hope out of the corner of her eye.  
Hope gasped as Nadissa's gray-green eyes met hers. The cold feeling ran down her spine, the one she'd had in the midst of the woods with the construct.  
Leo's sister had magic.  
  
Nadissa couldn't believe what she was seeing.   
It was almost frightening how powerful this older girl was. And she truly didn't look at all able to handle her magic; or able to hold so much of it, for that matter.  
Nadissa was inwardly jealous. She had been barely older than seven when she had discovered her magic, and she had grown and trained intensively since then, and she still didn't have half the magic strength this strange girl had.  
But it wasn't in Nadissa's gentle nature to be jealous of anybody for long, and the green-eyed monster soon died back into submissiveness.  
Nadissa mind-sent.  
The light mind-chuckle replied softly.   
Nadissa exclaimed to her Guardian.  
Saby agreed.   
This short mind-conversation had gone by in the blink of an eye, but Nadissa remembered every word of it. Deciding to act on her Guardian's advice, Nadissa set the clothes hamper down on the carpet and walked purposefully into the living room, an open smile ready enough on her face.  
Hope shrinked back slightly from this seemingly nice girl. She was now apt to being suspicious of anyone who had magic that she did not knew, given the past circumstances and events.  
"Hello, there," Nadissa said friendly enough. "My name's Nadissa, Leo's sister. Or, as some people like to say, Leo's keeper."  
Hope smiled weakly and shook hands with the calm girl. "My name's Hope."  
Nadissa smiled.   
It was only be supreme will that Hope did not scream or jump in surprise and panic. Nadissa easily saw the panicked look in Hope's eyes, and did her best to dispell her fears.  
  
Hope carefully took a deep breath, then concentrated to send the sorceress a reply.   
Nadissa's outward smile widened.   
  
Nadissa replied. A quick flash of an image blinked across Hope's mind's-eye. A small, cheetah-like cat, with large, honey-brown expressive eyes and black dragonfly wings smiled at Hope briefly.   
The gold presence of Nadissa's magic abruptly left Hope's consciousness. As she blinked to reorient herself, Hope realized in disbelief that the past conversation had only taken a brief heartbeat at the most.  
Leo smiled over at Hope. "Well, do you want to get started? It's not safe to be outside after dark."  
Hope nodded wordlessly, glad Leo had suggested it. She didn't think her voice would work long enough for her to croak out the suggestion.  
Nadissa watched wistfully as Hope and Leo left.   
Saby mind-sent gently. The Guardian Creature had been discreetly listening-in on her determined thoughts.   
Nadissa mind-sent bitterly as she lifted up the discarded clothes basket.   
Saby sighed sadly. I know, dearling. But we must fight to help her to live as long as she can comfortably. That's all we can do right now.  
Nadissa blinked a slight tear from her eye as she descended the stairs to the basement laundry-room.   
  
Katalia sighed in relief as her magic finally cleansed away the last mark bestowed upon her from the battle. The green scabs flaked off as the ice-eyed woman brushed her arms furiously, eager to be rid of the unsightly scabs.  
She'd been severely injured, both physically and magically, during the unpredictable battle. Her only consolation during her healing and recovering was the fact that she had probably managed to destroy the little idiot of a third Power. If she hadn't destroyed him completely, he would at least have severe magic poisoning, and one out of ten as a survival rate wasn't the best odds for the foolish youth.  
Slipping from the black and red silk sheets of her bed and into her silk blue and white robes, Katalia paused for a look in the mirror. Her eyes were shadowed more so than usual, but that couldn't be helped. She was very depleted in both body and magic content. She'd be feeling the affects of that battle for a few more days at the least.  
"Katalia, I see you are looking much better," a soft, dangerously cold voice whispered as Katalia's creator and Master slipped behind her, laying a soft hand on her shoulder. Katalia smiled at the reflection they cast in the shadowed mirror.  
Katalia was an icy creature, with no heart or pity, and little else emotion besides obsession and jealousy. Her white-blonde hair and pale white eyes added to her unique beauty, and her pale cream skin further enhanced the impression of an ice maiden. Her perfectly sculpted pink lips curled into a wicked smile befitting her personality.  
The man who stood behind her, with one hand on her shoulder and the other resting on her waist, was a dark contrast to the woman. He looked young, nineteen or twenty at the latest. His hair was a dark black luster, and just long enough to cover his ears. Which was good, for Aku Darkness's ears were pointed strangely, in a way no other human's ears were. His eyes were a brown black that oddly looked the color of dried blood in certain lights. He had a tan, golden complexion, and was slightly taller than the tall, lithe Katalia.  
"Well, my little construct," Aku whispered into her ear, further widening her wicked smile. "Are you feeling as well as you look?"  
"Absolutely, Master," Katalia whispered back. "I hope you are not angered at me for the unaccomplishment of my sent task. And for the destroyal of Morgog."  
Aku waved it off. "You were out numbered and out-magicked to begin with; I think you did much better than can be expected in those circumstances. And as for Morgog... He was a fool and an idiot to leave himself so vulnerable for attack."  
Katalia laughed without humor. "I don't believe that thick-headed construct had one subtle bone in his massive body!"  
Aku chuckled in agreement. "Yes, you may be correct. Sadly, I made Morgog to merely possess brute strength; I had no wish to incorporate a quick-thinking wit as well at the time of his creation. Well, he served his purpose well enough. What's done is done."  
Katalia nodded slightly.  
"And you are a much better made construct than Morgog, or any of the others, ever were," Aku said, pulling the unresistant Katalia closer, turning her till she faced him. "I would rather have your pretty face and dangerous mind than twenty Morgogs any day."  
Katalia giggled, kissing Aku teasingly. "My most extreme thanks, Master. And I could wish for no stronger or wiser a Master to serve."  
Aku grinned an almost feral, predator smile. "You are an even wiser construct than I thought."  
Katalia's laughter rang out in the cold darkness of the enveloping night.  
  
Sage was lost.  
Swirling colors surrounded him, pressing in uncomfortably at all sides. Snatches of music and words twirled around him, confusing him further.  
All Sage wanted to do was sleep, deep and peaceful. But the colors and sounds wouldn't let him. Surrounding him painfully was a dark, oily black, a black that tried to send him into the realms of dream he wished to fall into. But the black was hampered by a dark fire-red, a red that pricked Sage awake when he began to drift asleep. Faint, weak pink was woven into an equally faint green, and the two colors danced around Sage dizzyingly. A dark, calm bluish-purple seemed to plead with him to stay awake, and a burnished copper watched from afar with a sad aura. Bright gold and pale white hovered anxiously above the pink and green, as if coaxing them to come closer together. A soft sky-blue, which was intertwined with a pale red, hovered among the bright gold and pale white. And, even paler than the pink and green, a nearly transparent jade green and midnight blue swirled among the bluish-purple.  
"Sage.... don't give up..... me....."  
Sage looked about slowly.   
"Sage! Don't.... me....."  
"Patience?" Sage whispered as, with a sudden flash of brightness, the many colors destroyed out the oily black. He could feel his eyes open, but all he saw was black. "Patience?!?"  
"Sage!!" Patience cried, leaning forward and catching an outstretched, reaching hand in hers, "I'm right here!"  
"Can't.... see...." Sage whispered out fearfully, his eyes wide and staring up at the ceiling blankly.  
"Celos!!" Patience called frantically. Obediently, the fire-red and orange Guardian darted in quickly.  
"Master!!" Celos cried.  
"Celos?" Sage asked weakly. "I can't see anything. Everything's all black."  
Celos' eyes closed for a moment, and the small fox-creature's body began to glow a fiery red. "It's a side-effect of the magic poisoning. But it should wear off in a few days."  
"You're sure?" Sage and Patience asked worriedly.  
Celos nodded firmly. "Your magic's finally starting to repell the Dark magic."  
"I saw so many colors..." Sage mumbled as he fell into a welcome sleep.  
Patience smiled with relief, hugging Celos. "He'll be alright?"  
Celos nodded with a face splitting smile. "He's gonna be alright!!"  
  
Li still hadn't found the strength or courage to leave Rocky Wood.  
Li thought drearily to himself.  
He hadn't been getting much sleep lately. The image of a crying, sorrowfilled Sakura chased sleep away when the lights were turned off.   
And when Li did finally fall asleep, dreams of kissing and holding Sakura haunted him. The memories of her smile, her laugh, her eyes plagued him mercilessly. He found himself reminescing of the days when they had captured the Clow Cards together more and more often as the time passed. It was as if his heart was punishing him for the pain he knew he was putting Sakura through. By now, the memories had almost taken a movie-like quality to them, replaying themselves over and over at the most inopportune times. Even when Li turned on the radio in an attempt to chase the blues away, the songs reflected his heart all too well.  
Li thought bitterly.   
Just then there was a knock at the door. Li stood and trudged towards it on unwilling feet. The last thing he wanted right now was visitors.   
Li froze in the doorway as he saw who was standing there. "What are you two doing here?!?!"  
"We knew you hadn't left yet!!" Madison cried, hugging the surprised Li. "Li, you have to come back with us!"  
Li pulled away angrily. "I don't have to do anything I don't want to!"  
"But you want to come back with us, don't you, Li?" Shawn accused quietly.  
Li fell silent, turning away as if in anger so Shawn couldn't see the tears of pain in his eyes. "This is the way it has to be!"  
"No it isn't, Li!" Madison protested passionately. "Why are you doing this?!? Why are you putting yourself and Sakura through this hell?!?"  
Li looked down. "I can't be near any of you. If I am, you'll all be hurt, or killed."  
"Just how did this idea get into your thick head?" Shawn demanded angrily.  
"I had a dream fortelling what would happen if I stayed at the mansion." Li said softly.  
"Fortelling, my ass!" Shawn said furiously. "Sakura's so sad and vulnerable without you, Li! That damned Dark magicker could have given you that dream to make you leave and make her so!"  
Li looked up in surprise. That idea had never occured to him... But Li still wasn't willing to take any chances. And he would be taking a large one if he went back with Madison and Shawn.  
"You ~have~ to come back, Li!" Madison said urgently. "Sakura's withering away without you! She's too depressed, Li. She really believes you don't love her anymore."  
Li refused to answer, so Madison decided to take extreme measures and voice her chiefest worry.  
"Li, I'm afraid Sakura will commit suicide."  
Li's head snapped up at that, fear filling his eyes at the bleak possibility. "But, what if the dream ~was~ a fortelling-"  
"Sakura needs you, Li!!! Desperately!!" Madison said angrily, leaving no room for arguments. "Would you rather stay here and let her commit suicide, or come back with us and at least protect her with your magic?"  
Li was torn. He wanted nothing more than to go back to Sakura, but what if the dream proved true?  
After a long moment of thought and consideration, Li sighed in semi-defeat. "I'll come back with you-"  
"YES!!!!!" Madison cried happily.  
"Under one condition." Li continued without pause.  
"What?" Shawn asked suspiciously.  
"You can't tell Sakura that I still love her," Li said bitterly. "It's better if she keeps thinking I don't love her."  
Madison really did ~not~ want to agree to Li's harsh condition, but it wasn't like she could refuse it. If Li did come back with them, even if Sakura did not know his true feelings, he could make sure she didn't stay depressed long enough to consider suicide.  
"Fine," Madison said reluctantly. "But at least treat her like a good friend."  
"Absolutely no problem," Li said sadly.   
  
  
Was that better than the last chapter? I sure hope so.  
Quickie poll: Does anyone out there like Leo, his family, or Saby? I know they don't have a big part in this story yet, but they will. My God, will they ever!!  
Next chapter's rough outline:  
Sakura's and Li's identical pain of being-close-yet-separated, Kero's ultimatum, more Leo and Nadissa and you'll learn of Aku Darkness's new, evil plan....  
And NO! I AM NOT revealing any plot spoliers! You'll just have to wait and read, you lazy interlopers!  
*SIGH* I don't wanna go to school tomorrow!!! Please don't make me!!  
O-well. We all have our burdens and despairs.  
P.S.- For all those out there with normal friends, NEVER EVER get Psycho and Max in a room together without parental supervision! I tried to deal with it yesterday, and it was not a pretty sight!! We were watching The Mummy {One of the best movies ~EVER~ made!!!} and they managed to degrade everything in it!! They made jokes that made it seem like ~EVERYONE~ in the movie was gay or bi! And this is one of our fave movies of all time!!  
I can't wait to get my teaching degree and move to Canada. *(^-^)*  
P.S.- The song mentioned was by Linkin' Park, from Hybrid Theory, and the song's called In The End. 


	11. Chapter Eleven: Li Returns, Kero's Ultim...

You Set Me Free, You Give My Heart WingsPart Two (Contin.): The Middle  
  
  
How is all you peoples?!?  
Everyone: Great!  
Me, too! I just finished Mercedes Lackey's book Storm Rising, and OHMIGOD!! It had SUCH a good ending!! Everyone out there that likes fantasy books, go out right now, buy and read every Mercedes Lackey book you can! I've only got one more series and one more book of hers left to get and read, and she's my fave author at the moment! She even beats out Anne McCaffery and Brian Jacques!! SHE'S ~THAT~ GOOD!! GO READ HER BOOKS RIGHT NOW!!!  
Well, let's get this chap started, shall we?  
  
{Disclaimer}  
Don't own the CCS characters.  
Do own the following: Shawn, Garlin, Patience, Hope, Jade, Josuah, Sage, Celos (Celosrata), Aku Darkness, Katalia, Morgog, Cecile, Leo, Nadissa, Saby (Sabyina), the town of Rocky Wood, and anyone else mentioned (or will be mentioned) that never appeared in the Cardcaptor Sakura series.  
Please be kind, and don't reuse or steal my characters. They're my children, after all. Since I don't plan on having any human children of my own, my lil' babies in my fics and books mean a lot to me.  
{And no, I'm not crazy. I'm just mentally unstable. *(^-^)*}  
  
Chapter Eleven: Li Returns, Kero's Ultimatum, And Nadissa.....   
  
~Find me here,  
Speak to me,  
I want to feel you,  
I need to hear you.  
You are the light,  
That is leading me,  
To the place where,  
I find peace again.~  
Sakura was still sitting on her windowseat when someone came to stand in her doorway. She didn't even bother to look up as she addressed the interloper.  
"Go away. I don't feel like talking," Sakura said stolidly.  
"Well, if that's what you want..." Li's voice answered.  
Sakura turned with mouth wide open. Tears threatened to fill her eyes again. "Li?"  
"Hi." Li said simply, his face expressionless. Inwardly, his heart ached. How had Sakura gotten so thin in a mere week?!? And she looked so tired and worn!  
~You are the strength,  
That keeps me walking,  
You are the hope,  
That keeps me trusting.  
You are the life to my soul,  
You are my purpose,  
You are everything.~  
"Li!" Sakura exclaimed, jumping up and running to him. Just before she wrapped him in a warm hug, Li took a step back.  
"Li?" Sakura asked sadly, looking up at him with bewildered eyes.  
"I meant what I said before, Sakura," Li said coldly. It was only supreme will that kept Li from hugging her tightly. "Madison and Shawn were worried about you, and they asked me to come back."  
"Why did you?" Sakura asked, confused.   
~And how can I  
Stand here with you,  
And not be moved by you?  
Would you tell me?  
How could it be,  
Any better than yesterday?~  
Li shrugged noncommitically. "They begged me to."  
Sakura took a step back. "Why didn't you just blow them off and forget about it?" Sakura's anger wasn't quick to blaze, but it was beginning to bit by bit.  
Li sighed. "I'd still like to be friends, Sakura. Just nothing more."  
Sakura turned angrily. "Just leave me alone."  
Li was glad Sakura had turned, for pain had somehow managed to pass through his barriers and fill his eyes. He silently complied, leaving the tearing Sakura alone in her darkened room.  
~You calm the storms,  
You give me rest,  
You hold me in your hands,  
You won't let me fall.  
You still my heart,  
And you take my breath away.  
Would you take me in?  
Would you take me deeper now?  
'Cause you're all I want,  
You are all I need.  
You are everything.  
Everything.~  
  
"This is where you live?!?" Leo demanded unbelieving. This girl must be pulling his leg; she couldn't possibly live in such a large mansion!  
"Yep!" Hope said cheerfully, hurrying up the stairs to the house. "Well, c'mon! I'm sure the others'll love to meet you!!"  
Leo followed her slowly, staring open-mouthed at the looming, hulking building.  
"Mammy, Pappy, I'm home!!" Hope called as she let herself and Leo in. They were taking their shoes off when Patience dashed into the anteroom.  
"Hope, Sage is awake!!" Patience exclaimed breathless, sweeping her sister into a giant hug.  
"Wonderful!!!" Hope said candidly. "C'mon, Leo!!"  
Patience paused in her headlong flight out of the room at the sound of the unknown name. "Leo?"  
"Hi." Leo said uncomfortably, waving slightly. "My name's Leo."  
"I'm Patience, Hope's sister." Patience said absently. "Hurry up, Hope! He's awake and everyone's already up at his room talking with him!"  
"What about Celos and Kero?" Hope whispered in an under-tone to her sister before she had a chance to rush out.  
"I'll hurry up and make sure they're not buzzing around," Patience replied, speeding up the stairs to the second floor.  
"Sorry about all that," Hope apologized as she and Leo followed Patience slowly. "Sage is a good friend of ours; he's been unconscious for a week or so now, and Patience was dearly worried about him."  
"What happened to him?" Leo asked in alarm.  
"He had an accident," Hope said vaguely, in a way that made Leo think she was lying. But Hope seemed like a usually straightforward girl; if she had a reason for keeping that bit of information a secret, Leo wouldn't pry any further.  
Patience wasn't exaggerating when she said everyone was in Sage's room. Patience sat with a wide smile beside Sage's bed while Jade, Josuah, Sakura, Madison and Shawn were clustered around the bed. And to Hope's most extreme and happy surprise, Li was back! But Sakura and Li were divided by Josuah and Madison, and even though Sakura kept casting longing glances towards Li, he seemed coldly oblivious to them.  
"LI!!!" Hope screamed, hugging him so tightly he had trouble breathing.  
"Hi.... Hope...." Li wheezed out.  
"Leo, this is Li, and Sakura, Madison and Shawn. And this is my Mammy, Jade, and my Pappy, Josuah." Hope said cheerfully as she released Li.  
"What about me?" Sage's plaintive voice whispered.  
"And this is Sage!" Hope amended just as cheerfully. "It's so good to see you awake, Sage! How are you feeling?"  
"Awful," Sage admitted truthfully. "I can't see anything."  
"You're blind?!?" Hope exclaimed hopelessly.  
Sage nodded slightly with a sigh. "For at least a week or so. But I've been assured that I'll get my sight back soon."  
"Your name's Leo, right?" Josuah asked amiably. "I'm Josuah, Hope and Patience's father. It's good to meet you!"  
"The feeling's mutual, sir," Leo stuttered out as Josuah shook his arm warmly.  
Patience was carefully handing Sage a large stuffed fox when Jade spoke up. "And just where did you meet Hope, Leo?"  
"Um, well," Leo began.  
"He saved me, Mammy." Hope interrupted bluntly. "I wasn't watching the road and he saved me from being run over by a truck."  
"Oh!" Jade gasped. "Oh my!"  
"We're okay, Mammy." Hope assured quickly.  
Jade and Josuah immediately began thanking the dazed Leo profusely. Hope turned her eyes back to Sage, sighing.  
Poor Sage. He was better, but he couldn't see, and wouldn't be able to for a week or more. And poor Patience! She was already wearing away, and she was sure to spend every moment she could with Sage now! But the knowledge that he was getting better must be a comfort for everybody.  
Sakura patted Kero's head absently, staring at Li with sorrowful eyes. Kero had to restrain himself from leaping at Li and biting his nose for all the pain he'd caused Sakura in the past week, but he firmly reminded himself that he was supposed to seem as nothing more than a mere stuffed animal. Inwardly, Kero contented himself with the thought that as soon as this Leo was gone, he could give Li the thrashing and yelling he deserved.  
Shawn was looking at Leo strangely, as if trying to place him. I know I've seen him before... Not in this life, but in another... Why can't I place him? I know he doesn't have magic, but I know he was connected to ~some~ magickers....  
Hope finally managed to pull Leo from her thankful parents' grasp, and as soon as they were free, they hurried up to Hope's tower room where they could be alone to talk.  
"So, how do you know all those people?" Leo asked curiously as he sat on the end of Hope's quicksand-like bed. "Are they all family?"  
"Of course not!" Hope said. "Mammy, Pappy and Patience are the only family I've got. Sakura, Li, Shawn and Madison are from Japan. They came to visit us this summer. They're good friends of me and Patience." Well, that wasn't a real stretch of the truth... "Sage is a newcomer to town. He met up with us and we all became friends nearly a month ago."  
"Is something wrong with Sakura? I think that's her name... The honey-brown haired girl?"  
Hope nodded an afirmative. "That's Sakura."  
"Well, is something wrong? She looked so sad and desolate," Leo said in sympathy.  
Hope sighed gustily. "Well, let's see how I can explain this.... Sakura and Li are in love. They've known each other since they were little older than ten, and they became a close couple after their fourteenth birthdays. They've been inseparable until last week..."  
"What happened?" Leo asked curiously.  
"Li told Sakura he didn't love her, then just disappeared for a week. None of us really know why he said that, because everyone but Sakura can see he's still madly in love with her. Shawn and Madison may know what's happening, though," Hope mused thoughtfully. "Madison's best friends with Sakura, and Shawn's Li's best friend."  
"That's strange," Leo reflected. "Why would he do that to someone he loves? Sakura looks very, very sad and lonely."  
"Li has his reasons," Hope said mysteriously, cryptically. "And they must be good ones."   
  
Nadissa was awakened a few hours after dawn by her mother's call. "Honey?"  
"Yes, Mom?" Nadissa asked wearily, yawning as she trudged into Cecile's room.  
"Oh, I'm sorry, dear," Cecile began apologetically. "Were you sleeping?"  
Nadissa simply nodded, rubbing her bleary eyes. "What's the matter, Mom? Do you need your meds?"  
Cecile shook her head. "I just wanted to tell you that I'm feeling better today, so you can go ahead and spend the day out if you want."  
Nadissa managed to smile through a jaw-cracking yawn. "Thanks, Mom! I think I'll take you up on that offer."  
  
Saby was lounging on the windowsill when Nadissa reentered her room, promptly beginning to hurriedly dress. "What's the hurry?"  
"Mom feels better. She said I could spend the day out!" Nadissa explained as she tugged on a pair of shorts and a gold blouse. "Would you like to go and visit the Powers?"  
"Do you know the way?" Saby asked, closing her eyes with a contented purr as the sun warmed her black-veined dragonfly wings.  
"Leo does. All I have to do is convince him to show us the way," Nadissa said as she pulled on her pair of sandles. "Ready to act like a stuffed animal?"  
Saby sighed and hovered over to her Mistress on incandescent wings. "Ready I am. Eager I'm not."  
"Leo!" Nadissa called through her brother's closed door, knocking loudly as she did so. "Wake up, idiot!!"  
"What is it?!!?" Leo groaned angrily, throwing the door open with a little too much gusto.  
"I want you to show me where that Hope girl lives." Nadissa said in a stubborn tone that clearly said "I'm not asking".  
Leo groaned and leaned agains the door, scratching his head with a yawn. "Why do you care?"  
"I want to meet her properly!" Nadissa said impatiently. "I want to talk to her!"  
Leo sighed and slammed the door in Nadissa's face. "Gimme a minute to get ready... You better start praying that they don't think us rude for coming over so early."  
Nadissa smiled, pleased. "Oh, I'm sure they won't."  
  
Sakura woke, as she often did these days, with the rising sun. Feeling a little too restless to stay in bed, Sakura dressed and crept downstairs.  
Jade was already awake, but hard at work on a new manuscript in her tiny, cluttered little study. Little less than an earthquake would disturb her.  
Unlocking the doors, Sakura hurried outside. Crisp, pine-flavored air billowed welcomingly around Sakura, dispelling the last wisp of sleep. Despite her saddened mood, the day was so beautiful it somehow cheered her up.  
Sakura began climbing down the steps carved into the stone leading up to the mansion, her mind on the trees, rising sun and twittering birds. She quickly selected a shady tree to sit beneath once she reached the end of the steps, and sat to enjoy the sun rise.  
Kero woke with a face-splitting yawn. He peered about blearily for a long moment. "Sakura? Now, where could she be?"  
Just then, someone passed by the opened door, hurrying down the staircase to the first floor. Kero buzzed after the shadowy figure curiously.  
Kero realized with a start.   
Li sighed as he shut the front door quietly behind him. I need some time to think. Maybe Shawn and Madison are right. Maybe that dream was nothing...  
Sakura had began to doze in the cool shadows, but started awake as someone walked past, oblivious of her.   
Kero thought to himself in a smug way as he buzzed after the unknowing Li.   
"Li!" Kero called angrily. Li paused and spun about.  
"What do you want?" Li asked irritably.  
"To talk!" Kero said just as angrily, hovering over until he was at eye level, a few inches away from Li's face. "How dare you hurt Sakura so?!?"  
Li glared at Kero, remaining stolidly silent.  
"Do you ~enjoy~ hurting people?!? Do you like breaking someone's heart?!?" Kero demanded, clearly going to remain a pest until Li answered him.  
"Of course not, Kero!" Li shouted back angrily. "I didn't want to hurt Sakura at all!"  
"Well, for something you didn't want to do, you accomplished it very well!" Kero retorted snidely, little arms crossed stubbornly over his narrow gold chest.  
"I had to do it!!" Li said helplessly.  
Kero snorted. "You didn't have to do anything!! You hurt my Mistress, Li. I have every right to hurt you in turn!"  
Li's eyes hardened. "I'm sorry for what I did to Sakura, Kero. I really am. I didn't want to hurt her. And besides, Kero, Sakura may be your Mistress, but what goes on in her personal life is none of your business!"  
"Are you implying I've stuck my nose where it doesn't belong?" Kero asked coldly, his eyes hardening.  
"Gosh, it sort of sounds that way, doesn't it?" Li replied snidely.  
Sakura gasped from her hidden watching vantage as Kero transformed in a heartbeat. With a snarl, Kero leaped at Li, knocking him to the ground.   
Li glared up at the molten-fire eyes staring down at him. The most of Kero's massive weight resting on his chest made him ache and throb painfully, but Li managed to keep every outward sign of discomfort hidden.  
Kero lowered his face until he was a bare inch away from Li's nose. "My Mistress ~IS~ my business, Li Showron," Kero growled low and menacingly, his lips drawn back, revealing his fearsome fangs. "And if you ever hurt her again, I'll make sure you regret it."  
To Kero's surprise, a faint mist of tears appeared in Li's eyes. "Kero, you wouldn't have to do a thing to make me regret my actions if I ever hurt Sakura again. I'd rather kill myself than see the pain in her eyes that I saw last week."  
"Then why," Kero whispered in surprise. "Did you hurt her in the first place?" These tears of emotional hurt were no fakery; even biased Kero could see that.  
Sakura leaned forward slightly. I can't catch what they're saying....  
"I had to," Li whispered out. "I had a dream showing me that everyone would die if I stayed too close to them."  
Kero backed from Li, surprise clear on his features. "I had no idea..."  
"That's life," Li groaned, wincing, as he sat and rubbed at his bruised ribs. "But you mustn't tell Sakura anything, Kero. It's better this way. At least she won't die now."  
Kero nodded slightly before returning to his usual form. "I'm sorry, Li."  
"So am I," Li said truthfully as he stood and left, slowly retaking the steps to the mansion.  
Sakura watched him go with puzzled eyes. I missed something... What just happened?!?  
  
Nadissa stared up at the mansion with wide eyes.  
"Nice place, huh?" Leo said with a grin.  
Nadissa closed her eyes for a brief moment. Sure enough, three very clear and visible Powers throbbed out to her.  
"Nadissa, I really think it's too early," Leo protested as he followed the eager girl up the steps.  
"Nonsense!" Nadissa brushed off as she continued upwards. "Don't you see the girl sitting on the front porch?"  
"Sakura?" Leo called, hoping he had used the correct name, as he spotted the honey-brown haired girl.  
Sakura looked up from her thoughts and speculations. "Leo, right?"  
Leo nodded vigorously. "And this is my sister, Nadissa."  
"Hi," Sakura said politely, looking over at the unobtrusive girl holding the cheetah stuffed animal as Leo and Nadissa reached the porch.  
Sakura had only intended to smile welcomingly at the girl, but she suddenly and unexpectedly locked eyes with the pretty girl. A jolt ran through her as she unmistakeably felt the shiver of Power in the younger girl.  
Even with her Power hidden, Sakura's magic was clear to Nadissa when their eyes met. And if the amount of magic in the Hope girl had surprised the young sorceress, Sakura's magic staggered her.   
"Hello," Sakura said, warier than before. "I'm Sakura."  
"Nadissa," Nadissa replied, squeezing Saby just a little too tightly, making the poor Guardian's eyes bulge for a moment. Even if this girl was a Pure sorceress, her magic could easily destroy poor Nadissa if her temper got out of control and she was not careful with her magic run-off. Strong, passionate emotions were dangerous when someone had that much power inside.  
"Why don't you both come in?" Sakura offered graciously. This new sorceress was worth looking into. "I'll go get Hope and the others."  
  
Shawn discreetly kept Leo busy by giving him the grand tour, leaving Hope, Li, Sakura, Madison and Nadissa alone to talk. Kero and Saby were also present, but both were still in their guises as stuffed animals. Nadissa didn't know about Kero; in turn, Sakura and the others had no clue about Saby. Patience had gently declined speaking with the new sorceress in the tower rooms, preferring to keep poor, lonely Sage and Celos company.  
While everyone settled themselves comfortably around Patience's cool, dark room, Nadissa watched these strange magickers in silence.  
The solemn girl named Madison, who seemed to have a video camera permanently attached to her right hand, was dressed in a blue and white dress, with her hair up in a bun with small strands dangling down. Only the faintest wisp of magic lingered about her, but Nadissa could see a possibility for potential, if awakened properly. She certainly had a good enough magical background, and her Figure was strong, despite the weak sense of her magic. Nadissa also possessed a small ability to see glimpses of the past lives associated with somone, and could see that this girl had been closely connected to magickers in her past life as well as this one. Kanthel Otion and Madison Taylor were more alike than Madison knew.  
Nadissa had only seen a brief glimpse of the boy Shawn, but she had a careful mind for detail, as well as a photographic memory. Shawn was powerful in a strange magic, a magic unlike any she'd ever seen, older than some of the oldest known magic she knew of. His past lives of Antien and Nicolas Otion had been full of magic and magical happenings; Clow Reed's apprentice had lived a very varied few lives. And Shawn's pale red hued magic was so closely intertwined with Madison's faint sky-blue, Nadissa could easily see that the two were soulmates, made for one another in this life as well any other.  
Nadissa hadn't seen Patience in person, but by looking at Hope and the girl's room, she had a good idea of what she was like. She was much calmer and more sedate than her energetic younger sister, and most probably graceful and stately, with refined artistic features, a contrast to Hope's robust, healthy beauty. She loved dark, calm colors; that much was certain in her choices for room colors. Patience Dalie would most probably have slightly stronger magic than her sister, from her older age and experience alone. Nadissa had already caught a brief wisp of her magic, a dark bluish-purple in color. And the magic thread was woven in with another, a fiery red in hue. The red thread most probably belonged to the third new Power, the one Nadissa now knew from snatched conversation bits she'd overhead was injured and temporarily blind. This Sage was around Patience's age, and not nearly so strong, in both nature and because of his sickness. Nadissa thought inwardly that it was quite hilarious how women and girls usually had stronger magic than most men or boys. And most of the men who had strong magic either obtained it by Dark means, or because they were very close to a magic woman, who's magic would naturally be closely intwined with his.  
This fact seemed present in the cases of Li Showron and Sakura Avalon, but Nadissa thought it very strange and unnatural for them to be so cold, distant and formal with one another. Li was a very good looking boy about twenty or twenty-one, with unruly dark brown hair and liquid amber eyes. He was dressed in faded blue jeans and a green shirt that complemented the green of his magic. His power was very strong, though not as powerful as Sakura's. All Nadissa could see of his past lives were brief flashes and glimpses, most containing a girl that looked uncannily like Sakura.  
Sakura was dressed in a pink short skirt and blouse, with her hair pulled back from her emerald green eyes in a complicated french braid. She sat restlessly in Patience's desk chair, a small psuedo bear toy laying across one knee. She kept sending sad, searching glances over at Li, who leaned against the wall stiffly, his eyes firmly focused on the blue-painted floor. Her magic, a pale pink in color, stretched yearningly towards Li, swirling with his magic before pulling back slightly.  
Sakura moved slightly, a glitter of a chain catching Nadissa's eye. She looked curiously at the necklace Sakura wore, a long chain with a small star-shaped charm dangling from the bottom. A strong sense of magic, both ancient mid-night blue and Sakura's pink, hung about the strange charm.  
"Well, Nadissa, why don't you start by telling us more about yourself?" Hope suggested when everyone was finally settled. Madison flicked the lenscap from her camera and began recording, looking over at the new girl.  
Nadissa was fairly normal looking, with ramrod-straight brown hair that fell to her waist and curled in tiny wisps about her face. She was tall, and just slightly on the plump side, with dimples at each corner of her heart-shaped mouth. She was dressed in a simple gold blouse and a pair of khaki shorts, with half of her hair pulled back in a ponytail, the rest left hanging straight. She was nothing truly spectacular to look at... unless you caught a glimpse of her eyes. Those sometimes-gray-sometimes-green eyes seemed to hold your future and life in them, seemed able to weigh and measure emotions and feelings. An old power swam in those knowing eyes, almost as ancient as Clow Reed's magic. She had surely had several past lives, lives that now made her wise beyond her years. And although she did not have a huge amount of magic, the magic she did have was strong, a bronze-gold in color to Sakura's sensitive eyes now that Nadissa had dropped her Shields.  
Nadissa thought for a moment, then shifted the small cheetah toy that sat in her lap with a pretty smile on its feline features.  
"My name's Nadissa Davisk, I'm nearly sixteen years old, and I've had my magic since I was seven. My brother's Leo, he doesn't have any magic himself, and he's a complete idiot."  
"No opinions or biased thoughts, please!" Hope warned with a finger wiggle.  
Nadissa sighed. "Don't take my word on it. You'll find out for yourself."  
"What about your dad and mom?" Madison asked.  
Nadissa sighed. "My Mom's Cecile Davisk, and she's dying from lung cancer."  
"I'm so sorry," Sakura whispered sympathetically, her voice barely audible, her eyes firmly on Li.  
Nadissa nodded and sighed again. "She's usually bedridden, but she's never really depressed about the fact she's dying. In fact, after all of these years of suffering and pain, I think Mom's actually looking forward to Death." Nadissa sighed with a wry smile. "I'm a little too morbid for my own good."  
"Where's your dad? Is he dead?" Li asked curiously.  
Nadissa frowned. "You know, I really don't know what happened to Dad. He disappeared after I was born, so I really don't remember him at all. Leo doesn't even remember what he looks like, and he was three at the time." Nadissa didn't add that when she had first tried to do a scrying for her father's image, all she'd found was a blank blackness. He wasn't dead, but it was as if he was somehow blocking his image from any scrying attempts. Which made Nadissa wonder if she'd inherited her magic from her father....  
"How long has your mother been ill?" Hope asked gently, her morbid curiosity driving her.  
"She first fell ill right after I was born, even before I'd been released from the hospital. The doctors ran tests and found a dark lump in her lungs. They diagnosed it as cancer and Mom went through surgeries and chemo for the good part of five years, but the doctors finally told her there was nothing more they could do. Mom was pretty resigned by then, and decided to go back to her life at the house, wanting to spend her time raising Leo and I instead of fighting a losing battle."  
"Your mother sounds very brave," Sakura murmured. Nadissa smiled in thanks.  
Just then, Kero sneezed.  
  
Aku Darkness looked down at his scrying crystal, an entirely too pleased, smug grin on his face.  
"This should work nicely enough to my plan.... Oh, I almost feel sorry for poor Cecile. But then, there are always casualties in war... And she will be the perfect thing to use to draw the new Powers and their dratted teachers from their hiding place."  
Aku was still furious over the fact that most of the events in the mansion were blocked to his Sight by the damned sorceress. Her power was far too strong for Aku to take on alone, but his sent-dream to her darling, devoted lover was working like a charm.  
Divided from her precious Li, Sakura would easily fall under his control.  
And Cecile and her pitiful family would be the last piece to the puzzle Aku had created.  
"The new Powers WILL be mine!!"  
  
  
Another school day come and gone.... *SIGH* I'm soooo tired!! I joined International Club today, and I'm really looking forward to the first Club meeting! We've got foreign exchange students from the Netherlands, France, and even a girl from Japan! I can't wait to meet them!!  
How did you all like that chap? Any ideas or suggestions for improvement? You know what to do. Er, at least you SHOULD. REVIEW, FOR CHRIST'S SAKE!!!  
Ahem. Pardon me. I need a refill on my meds for tomorrow.  
Next chap's gonna have:  
Sage and Patience getting even closer, Sabyina makes an appearance, Li gets some sense knocked into him {Literally!}, and more of the witchy-bitch Katalia!  
Stay tuned folks!  
You DEFINETLY WON'T WANT TO MISS the next chap!!  
P.S.- Does anyone out there NOT know what aku means? In Japanese, it means evil. So Aku Darkness could also be called Evil Darkness. Just a quickie fun fact for y'all!  
P.P.S.- The song mentioned is by Lifehouse, from No Name Face, and it's called Everything. 


	12. Chapter Twelve: Happy Slappin', And Long...

You Set Me Free, You Give My Heart WingsPart Two (Contin.): The Middle  
  
  
You ready?  
Are you really ready?  
Are you sure?  
Completely?  
Okay...  
Here's the next chapter!!!!  
  
{Disclaimer}  
More Rayeisms!!  
Wherever you go, there you are.  
Advice is seldom wanted, but usually needed.  
A good day includes perfect weather, a good book or friend, and all the time in the world.  
Princes don't come along often, but frogs abound.  
Life is sometimes butterfly soft, but usually dragon harsh.  
Every writer in their own right is wonderful.  
{A'sN: Is it just me, or do most of these sound too philosophical for me? Huh, strange. Hard to believe they're Rayeisms. *(^-^)*}  
  
Chapter Twelve: Happy-Slappin', and Long Lost Brothers....   
  
Nadissa stared in surprise at the small, sniffling creature she had previously believed to be a pseudo toy.  
Sakura sighed, knocking Kero softly on the head. "Nadissa, this is Kero, one of my Guardian Creatures."  
"One?" Nadissa echoed weakly. This girl was certainly the strongest magicker that Nadissa had ever known, in this life and many others.  
Sakura nodded as Kero sniffed and rubbed at his runny nose. "Kero is the Guardian of the Sun, and Yue is the Guardian of the Moon. Yue isn't here at the moment. He and Julian went off to binge."  
Madison giggled.  
"Damn dust," Kero complained stuffily, which earned him yet another slight knock on the head.  
Nadissa finally took a breath. "Well, I suppose I've been surprised enough. Now it's your turn. Meet Saby."  
Nadissa allowed the Guardian to hover up with a silent command.  
Even Sakura, who was used to hiding small creatures as stuffed animals, gasped in surprise as Saby buzzed up.  
"Greetings!" Saby said cheerfully, nodded her head in a half-bow, both front paws clapped together as was sometimes tradition in Japan and China.  
"Oh, surprise, surprise," Kero groaned with another sniffle.  
"What?" Saby asked innocently, a sweet expression on her calm features.  
"Yet another annoying, pushy Guardian to deal with," Kero muttered very snidely, wiping his runny nose across the back of a paw.  
Saby's eyes began glowing in anger.  
"Saby, don't!" Nadissa gasped as Saby's dragonfly wings enclosed around her. "Watch your temper!"  
Li grinned as the wings parted and Kero gulped nervously, paling slightly.  
An immense cheetah with molten gold eyes growled, flicking her black dragonfly wings over her wide back as her long, many braceletted tail snaked about. Giant bracelets of gold and black pearls encircled each paw-wrist and several were clasped tightly around Saby's tail. A larger than average ebony pearl was embedded in her forehead.  
"No one insults Sabyina," Saby growled warningly, her eyes flashing.  
"Yessum!" Kero squeaked, gulping.  
Nadissa sighed as Saby sat back and began washing her whiskery face with her large paws. "Sorry, but Saby's very touchy. And her temper's as bad as mine."  
Li just managed to barely keep his amusement hidden. Kero looked as if he'd eaten an entire vat of bad pudding while riding in a very shaky, bumpy plane. {A'sN: Kero and planes just do not mix. Let's just say Kero looks more green and gray than goldish yellow by the end of the trip. Although, if any of you read Sakura in Paris and Sakura in Paris 2, you would know that already.}  
"No offense, Nadissa," Hope began slowly. "But you don't seem strong enough magically to create a Guardian creature."  
"Oh, I know," Nadissa began blithely. "I didn't create Saby. She's already told me that she was a gift to me in a past life, created by someone who was very kind and close to me."  
"Who?" Sakura asked curiously.  
Nadissa shrugged. "Someone in my family. But I'm the only one that I know of that has magic, and I don't think my father made Saby for me. I mean, if someone abandons you and your family just when they need you the most, they must not be that great a person. And Mom doesn't like to talk about him at all, either. So he must have been a real jerk. And Saby said that the person who created her was very nice and sweet to me."  
"Huh," Hope mused.  
  
"Patience, you really don't have to stay here," Sage croaked out as she handed him a glass of water. "If you want to talk with the others and the new girl, you can."  
Patience smiled. "Sage, I want to stay here. As long as that's okay with you?"  
"Of course!" Sage spluttered quickly. Truth be told, Sage was rather fond of Patience, and such a soft voice was always reassuring when one couldn't see anything.  
Celos hovered over and touched noses with Sage. "I'll be back in a moment."  
As Celos hovered off, Sage wondered if he hadn't left just to leave he and Patience alone together.  
  
Truthfully, Celos did leave for that reason. But he had an alterior motive, as well. He wanted to go and talk with Shawn. For some reason unknown to the small fox-like Guardian Creature, he held a strange affinity with the young sorcerer. He felt almost as close with Shawn as he did with Sage, but not quite. It was most confusing; Guardians usually only felt so close with their Mistresses and Masters. But Shawn was so like Sage, it wasn't as if Celos was being unfaithful to his Master.  
Hovering down the empty halls, Celos made for the first floor. He was just passing Jade's study's door when a breeze of magic carressed him.  
Turning in mid hover, Celos peered curiously into the open doorway of Jade's study. The woman was hard at work at her desk, scribbling furiously in a giant notebook. Notes and hasty sketches littered the table and floor, and the giant waste-bin beside the desk was filled to over-flowing.  
Celos flew in closer for a better look, coming to hover silently over Jade's shoulder, watching as the furious writer scribbled out her inspirations.  
And to Celos's surprise, he could just barely see a faint stream of jade green sink from Jade's hand into her pencil, and then into her paper. He was watching magic at work!  
"Jade?" Celos asked quietly, loathe to disturb her.  
"What?!?" Jade asked in surprise, jumping up and dropping her pencil. The faint trace of magic that had lingered in the paper, pencil and air dissipated.  
"What do you feel like when you're writing?" Celos asked curiously.  
"How do I feel?" Jade stuttered, confused. "Well, like I'm floating."  
Celos's face broke out in a large grin. "Jade, you use magic when you write."  
"I do?" Jade asked in stunned surprise, staring down at the paper as if expecting the dragon she had just been describing to leap from the neat, precise words.  
Celos nodded with a pleased grin. "Not a lot, but some. Maybe that explains why you're such a good author."  
"Oh, well," Jade began with a sniff as she returned to her work. "I still like to think it's all pure talent."  
Celos smiled and left, buzzing into the living room, where Josuah was hard at work drawing a new blueprint.  
Celos had given up being surprised. A faint air of mid-night blue magic hovered about Josuah and his blueprint as he worked.  
Celos sighed to himself.   
  
Leo and Nadissa left shortly after lunch, Saby once more in her stuffed-animal guise. Even though Hope thought her parents could handle any new magic surprises, she'd rather not chance them fainting at the sight of a giant winged cheetah.  
  
The next day, Sage woke feeling better than he had for the better part of the past week and a half. And much to his joy, he discovered he could see again!  
"Celos! I can see!" Sage cried happily, sitting and staring about, thanking God his blindness had only been temporary.  
"That's great, Master!" Celos exclaimed just as blissfully, dancing about in his joy.  
Patience was equally ecstatic that Sage was healed, and showed him her happiness by hugging him quite warmly and unexpectedly.  
Patience smiled at the surprised look on his face. "I'm glad you're better, Sage."  
"So I gathered," Sage murmured.  
Patience laughed. "Sage, I'm glad you're my friend."  
Sage grinned. "Patience, thanks. For everything."  
Patience blushed as Sage leaned forward, kissing her quickly on the cheek. Her heart skipped a beat as he pulled away, a soft smile on his face.  
Without a thought of being proper, Patience leaned forward, kissing Sage full on the lips. He blinked a moment before returning the kiss, pulling Patience closer.  
Celos buzzed out of the room silently, smiling widely.  
  
Li sat desolately beneath a large oak tree, staring up uninterestedly at the sun-dappled foliage waving overhead.  
"Li, I want to talk."  
Li lurched forward in surprise. "Sakura!"  
Sakura stood in a small patch of sunlight among the dark shadows, her hair loose and blowing about her face. Her emerald, soft eyes glittered, darkened with pain and confusion. She stood with her arms crossed over her chest, dressed in a tight pair of dark blue jeans and a pink halter top.  
Li looked worried and nervous as Sakura locked eyes with him. He looked the way she felt - worn and tired. Large dark circles rimmed each expressive amber eye, and he sighed much too often for Sakura's liking.  
"What is it?" Li asked nonchalantly, recovering from his surprise quickly. Sakura walked from the patch of sunlight and came to sit beside him. Before Li had a chance to edge away, Sakura grabbed his arm tightly.  
"We talk. Now." Sakura said firmly.  
Li paused, studying her before sighing and relenting. Sakura gently released his arm, slowly destroying the casual contact reluctantly.  
"Why did you tell me that you don't love me anymore?" Sakura asked bluntly.  
"Because it's the tru-"  
"And don't you dare tell me that!!" Sakura interrupted venomously, eyes blazing angrily. "Because I know that can't be true, Li. You and I are both hurting too much for it to be."  
Li turned away, staring down at the grass rather than looking into Sakura's pain-wracked eyes.  
Sakura stood furiously. "You look me in the eyes, Li Showron! You tell me truthfully that you don't love me anymore!"  
"I can't," Li whispered, his eyes glued to the waving grass.  
"Now!" Sakura said angrily, glaring down at Li.  
Li stood with an anger to match Sakura's, meeting Sakura's furious glare with one of his own. "I don't love you anymore!"  
A look of triumph flashed across Sakura's face, and Li knew his emotions had betrayed him. He hadn't kept his look of pain hidden carefully enough.  
"I knew it couldn't be true," Sakura whispered. "But why did you lie to me? Why did you hurt me?"  
Li sighed, looking down again. "I didn't want to, Sakura. I thought it was all for the best."  
"The best?" Sakura repeated angrily. "The best?!?"  
Li looked up. "I had a dream fortelling how everyone would die if I stayed too close to them!"  
"And you believed it?" Sakura asked derisively.  
"I didn't want to take that chance!!" Li shouted. "I didn't want to let any of you get hurt and worse just because of me!!"  
SLAP!  
Li blinked in amazement as Sakura rubbed at her stinging, reddened hand.   
"Don't be so full of yourself, Li!" Sakura chided angrily. "Snap out of it! You can't possibly be held responsible for ~everyone~!"  
"But," Li stuttered out.  
Sakura looked up at him with a tiny smile, hands resting on her hips. "Li, you yourself are always telling me I'm the strongest sorceress in the world. Do you really believe that, or do you just say that to make me feel good?"  
"It's true," Li murmured, rubbing at his red cheek.  
"And as long as I have you and everyone else to back me up, there's not a person alive that can beat us! Li, you're not that less poweful than I am, and Shawn's close behind you. Then there's Hope and Patience, and Sage when he gets better, and now there's even Nadissa. And you can't possibly forget Kero, Yue, Celos or Saby! With so many powerful magickers to stand behind me, I could never fail! But we're only unbeatable together, as a team."  
Li looked down, his mind rolling. "But what if the dream was true..."  
"Then we'll do everything we can from now on to make sure it can never come true, okay?"  
Li sighed and looked up, meeting Sakura's very determined eyes with his doubtful. "But, I don't want to risk your life."  
Sakura stared at Li for a long moment, her face softening, her eyes unfreezing. She took the large step that separated them and pulled Li into a very long, drawn-out kiss. When they parted, even Li had to gasp for breath.  
"You love me, don't you, Li?" Sakura whispered, pulling him close.  
"Always and forever, Sakura," Li murmured, wrapping his arms around her and savoring the moment. He stroked her hair softly, fighting back tears of happiness and relief. It had seemed like an eternity since the last time she'd been in his arms...  
"Then we'll be able to handle anything that comes, Li. Anything," Sakura whispered, the pain and sorrow finally leaving her eyes as she sighed with contentment.  
The two stood beneath the shady oak tree for a long while, glad to be in each other's arms once more, where they would always belong.  
  
Aku growled, smashing his scrying crystal angrily.  
He hadn't seen exactly what had happened; the damned sorceress from Japan had blocked his Sight with her far-reaching Shield. What he ~had~ seen was an intense flash of magic, a swirling pink and green in color. He growled again, knowing full well what that flash had meant.  
Li and Sakura were together again.  
Aku was in a rage.   
Now it was almost impossible, not with Li's and Sakura's powers combined. They could easily destroy him now if they saw the opportunity or had a chance.  
Aku thought with a weary sigh.  
  
  
Shortly after sunset, a loud, urgent knocking at the door disturbed the hard-at-work Jade. Grumbling quietly to herself, Jade went to answer it, fixing her knocked-askew glasses and smoothing her hair before opening the door.  
Jade took a step back in surprise as Leo stumbled inside.  
"Mrs. Dalie!" Leo gasped out urgently. "Where's Hope?!?!"  
  
Sakura and Li were sitting lazily before the fireplace, yawning and blinking every few seconds.  
"Leo's Mom is dying!!" Hope cried as she dashed into the living room.  
Sakura and Li were up in a hurry, any thought of sleep banished with the terrible exclamation.  
Leo was near tears. "I ran as fast as I could as soon as she started having trouble breathing. None of the doctors know what to do, they're not even sure what's happening. She's normally not this bad!! I don't know what to do!!"  
Sakura's brain was whirling. "Hope, go and get Patience."  
Hope hurried off to comply without another word. She returned an agonizingly long moment later, Patience trailing behind her.  
"We'd better hurry," Sakura said worriedly, glancing up at the clock.  
"What are you planning to do?" Patience asked.  
"Hope and Patience, you're coming with me. Li, too." Sakura ordered in a no argument tone.  
"But, Sage-" Patience began.  
"Shawn and Madison will make sure nothing happens! Li, do you know if Julian's back yet?"  
Li nodded. "He got back a little over an hour ago."  
"Go get him. You two catch up. We're going on ahead."  
"Do you really think you can help her?" Leo asked hopelessly as they hurried from the house and down the stone steps.  
"Don't worry, Leo," Hope assured the frantic boy. "Sakura will know what to do."  
"But how can she?" Leo asked helplessly. "What can she possibly do?"  
"Magic."   
  
Aku grinned nastily. "They've taken the bait. Katalia, go and collect our prize."  
Katalia smiled in her wickedly cold way, bowing ironically to her extremely pleased Master.  
"Right away, Master Aku."  
  
Nadissa looked up as Leo and the others burst into the house. She ran to them gladly, weary-lined and worried.  
"She's getting worse! Nothing I do helps!"  
Sakura smiled gently. "We'll do all we can, Nadissa. Don't worry."  
"I can't stop!" Nadissa cried. "Saby can't even do anything for her!"  
Sakura looked over at Leo, who was beginning to look confused, and sighed. "I think it's time Leo found out about Saby and magic."  
Leo was looking beyond bewildered now.  
"Saby, come in here, please." Nadissa called wearily as Patience and Hope continued into Cecile's room.  
Leo's eyes nearly left their sockets as he took in the hovering cheetah.  
"Leo, this is Saby." Nadissa said with a sigh.  
"What the-" Leo began weakly, paling visibly.  
"She's a Guardian Creature, Leo." Sakura explained gently. "She's made of magic."  
Before Sakura could continue in her information-giving, Leo passed out, dropping weakly to the floor.  
"Typical," Nadissa sighed. "But you have to help Mom, Sakura. She's bad. Real bad."  
  
Sage looked up as Shawn entered with a sigh, dropping heavily into the chair beside the bed that was usually reserved for Patience.  
It had galled Sage when both Celos and Patience had demanded that he remain in bed for another week, to be sure he would not suffer a relapse.  
"What's the matter, Shawn?" Sage asked curiously.  
Shawn looked over wearily. "Leo and Nadissa's Mom is dying."  
Sage saddened immediately. "Poor woman!"  
Shawn nodded slightly. "And poor Leo and Nadissa. If their mom dies, I don't know what'll happen to them."  
"Hope and Jade'll make sure they're okay," Sage said as confidentally as he could.  
Shawn nodded, his hazel green eyes darkened. "I can completely sympathize with Leo and Nadissa. I know what it feels like to be an orphan."  
Sage sat straighter, leaning against his plumped pillows. "You're an orphan?"  
Shawn nodded sadly. "My parents died in France when I was only a couple years old."  
A strange look crossed Sage's face, but he quickly shook it off. "I'm sorry."  
"Everyone always is." Shawn said wryly.  
"Well, I still have my parents, but I left home years ago. I've almost always been a drifter. I just can't seem to be able to stay in one place for long."  
"You've been here for over a month," Shawn pointed out.  
Sage was silent.  
"Maybe you can only stay if there's something there you can't bear to leave," Shawn suggested slyly.  
Sage didn't answer.  
Sighing, Shawn leaned back. "Tell me about your family. What're they like?"  
Sage smiled wistfully. "My mom, Julia, is really short and tiny, with brown blonde hair and hazel eyes. And my dad, Daved, is a really tall, big fellow, with friendly brown eyes and always-messy black hair. Just like mine." Sage said ruefully, running a hand through the hair in question.  
A flash of a half-formed picture flashed across Shawn's mind, but he couldn't quite capture it. "Do you have any siblings?"  
"I used to have a slightly younger brother," Sage said with a sigh. "But I don't remember him."  
"What happened to him?" Shawn asked curiously, the half-image pricking him again as a cold tingle ran down his spine.  
"He disappeared. Mom says he was kidnapped." Sage looked so very regretful. "I wish I knew him. He was only a little thing when he was kidnapped, and I was barely four. I don't even remember him. Mom and Dad keep the pictures in their closet. It was too painful to keep them hanging in the halls."  
Shawn's throat was dry for some unknown reason. And that cold tingle and blurry image kept pestering him relentlessly. "What was your brother's name?"  
"Daren." Sage said with a sigh. "I wish I had more memories of him."  
Shawn leaned forward slightly, locking penetrating eyes with Sage. "Give me your hand."  
"Why?" Sage asked, confused.   
"I need more magic for what I want to do. I've never really thought or wanted to do this until now, but for some stupid reason, I have to know right now."  
Sage complied, still confused and bewildered.  
There was a sudden sharp tug at something inside of Sage, a tug Sage could only describe as "magic gathering". Dizziness forced Sage to close his eyes, but when he opened them, he blinked in surprise.  
He was no longer sitting in his bed. He was standing by the street he recognized as the street his parents lived on. Standing beside him was a very determined, resolute-looking Shawn.  
He had just opened his mouth to demand where they were and what had happened, but a car suddenly pulled up alongside the curb before them. Muffling a curse, Sage jumped back as the man opened his door and nearly hit his leg.  
"Can't you watch-" Sage began angrily.  
"No one can hear or see you," Shawn said suddenly, interrupting him. "This is just a memory spell."  
The two watched as the man began walking down the street, whistling casually.  
"That's my house," Sage whispered as the man paused before a white mailbox.  
"Is that your brother?" Shawn asked quietly, pointing to a small, blonde-brown haired boy playing in the front yard.  
Sage nodded wordlessly, knowing with a rising dread what was happening. He was watching his brother's abduction.  
Shawn fell silent again, his mouth set in a tight, thin line as they watched the man snatch up the playing toddler, running towards his parked car before the small boy even had a chance to cry out in surprise.  
With a dizzying flash, Sage opened his eyes. He was back in his room, sitting once more in his bed. Shawn was sitting beside him still, a tight hold on his left hand. The younger boy released his hand and leaned back, tears in his eyes.  
"Shawn?" Sage asked, concerned. "Are you okay?"  
"After all this time..." Shawn whispered, his eyes closed.  
"What are you talking about?" Sage demanded.  
Shawn's eyes opened slowly, staring into Sage's. Hazel green met hazel green.  
"Sage, I'm your little brother."  
  
Sakura sighed as she looked down at Cecile's pale form. "She's failing."  
"Do something!" Nadissa begged, tears in her eyes. "She may be ready to leave, but Leo and I aren't ready to let her!"  
Sakura looked over at Patience and Hope, who both wore determined expressions. Li's hand slipped into Sakura's, and Julian smiled reassuringly.  
"Yue, we need you." Sakura said softly, eyes on the gasping Cecile.  
Julian glowed brightly, encased in feathery white wings, and Yue was suddenly standing there, a softer than usual look in his eyes.  
"Everyone link up." Sakura said slowly. Li's grasp on her right hand tightened and Nadissa slipped a cold, sweaty hand into Sakura's free hand. Patience and Hope joined hands, Hope taking Nadissa's free hand and Patience taking one of Yue's hands in hers. Yue and Li finished the link without a second thought.  
Taking a deep breath to steady herself, Sakura Called for magic from the others.  
Patience closed her eyes rather than look at the swirling room. Dizziness overtook her, but she still managed to keep her firm hold on Yue and Hope.  
Sakura finally decided she had enough magic, then added her own. She slowly severed the magic Call, then focused her strength on shaping and using the magic she now held within her.  
After a long moment, in which Nadissa heard every heartbeat from those in the room, Sakura released the magic. Shaped in a small, glowing silver ball of light, the magic pulled away from Sakura, draining her as it hovered before her heart.  
With a wince, Sakura allowed the globe to drop into Cecile's weak body before her.  
Li broke the link as he pulled away from Yue, catching the fainted Sakura before she had a chance to hit the floor. Holding her gently, Li looked up at the others.  
Patience and Hope looked dazed and woozy, but still stable for the most part. Nadissa was nearly as drained as Sakura, leaning weakly against the wall. And Yue merely stood silently, eyes closed, resembling a giant carved statue.  
Li was so proud of Sakura. She had saved a life, using most of her internal magic in the process. She'd be unconscious for hours, but she had done well. If the spell had been completed successfully, Cecile should be healed. In the meantime, Sakura would be unconscious, then afterwards she would be weak for days. Life magic was the strongest anyone in the world could perform, and was complicated for someone even as powerful as Sakura.  
Nadissa sighed in relief, sliding down the cool wall until she could sit comfortably.   
And Nadissa knew what sort of a sacrifice Sakura had made to help her mother. Sakura would be useless magically for a week or more. She would be much too weak to do even the simplest of Shielding, which made her incrediably vulnerable to attack. And with such a strong Dark magicker prowling about, she would be unable to protect herself or any of the others until she had recovered. Her old Shielding over the mansion would slowly wear off before she and the others returned, leaving ~EVERYONE~ unprotected. Sakura was running a rather immense risk by using the Life Spell, but she was willing to take it to save Nadissa's ailing mother.  
  
The others began to congratulate each other, weary with relief that Cecile was no longer in life-threatening danger. She certainly already looked better; it wasn't such a labor for her to breathe, and the paleness had left her face.  
A high-pitched scream rang out, startling everyone. Li's sword was in his hand in a bare flash of an eyelid.  
Saby fell from the air into Nadissa's surprised hands, phasing from the living room. The poor Creature was nearly bleached white, and one wing hung limply. Gold dust-like blood drifted down to the floor.  
"The.... witch..." Saby whispered before falling unconscious.  
Li's head darted towards the door as he realized someone was standing in the doorway, leaning against the doorframe languidly.  
"What a happy little party," Katalia laughed, looking down nonchalantly at her nails.  
"Lightning!" Li called angrily, slamming his sword-tip down on the parchment, one arm still securely wrapped around Sakura.  
Katalia raised a hand effortlessly, blocking and absorbing the lightning strikes. "How pitiful. Well, I've got no time to waste around here. Powers, come along now like good little girls."  
Hope's and Patience's eyes blanked suddenly as the two began walking forward stiffly.  
A large blue crystal from Yue struck Katalia's Shields, forcing her to release her hold for a brief moment.  
  
Hope shook her head, her eyes clearing. "Leo?"  
"Come NOW!!" Katalia shrieked angrily, snapping her fingers forcefully.  
Hope screamed as a large black globe surrounded her, another capturing the dazed Patience. With a lurch, the two began floating up and through the ceiling.  
"I DON'T WANT TO GO!!!" Hope screamed, her hands glowing golden.  
With a shatter, the globe disintegrated. Hope fell with a scream into Yue's arms.  
Li watched helplessly as Patience disappeared. Realization struck him.  
  
Katalia laughed. "Oh well. One out of two ain't bad. Master will be pleased."  
With a crack, Katalia disappeared, leaving a very stunned and unhappy group behind.  
  
  
Good? Or not so good? I mean in writing, not in the story itself. I KNOW that last part wasn't the best.... Well, please REVIEW and tell me what y'all think of this crappy, sucky, crappy fic, k?  
Next chap rough outline:  
Sage is sad {Well duh! His budding romance just disappeared through a ceiling!!}, Hope talks with Leo, more Li and Sakura mush, Shawn and Madison mush {I've been lacking on their couple scenes...} and I might even cram in more surprising revelations!!  
But I'm not promising that I'll get around to writing all this stuff in one chap. It may take two chaps. Well, keep readin' fans, and always remember to be a conscientious person and REVIEW ya durt-bags! Just kiddin'....  
Love and Bubbles to everyone!! *(^-^)* 


	13. Chapter Thirteen:The Letter, The Arrival...

You Set Me Free, You Give My Heart Wings  
Part Three: The Ending  
  
Well, let's get this rodeo started, kay?  
  
{Disclaimer}  
Don't own CCS,  
do own the rest,  
Even though I wished I owned,  
Clamp is the best!  
{Pathetic, ain't it? Gimme a break, it's 6 in the mornin'.}  
  
Chapter Thirteen: The Letter, The Arrival, The Question...  
  
Sage took the news of Patience's abduction surprisingly well, much to everyone's amazement. He waited silently, face and eyes expressionless, until Li and Hope were done, then smiled weakly when they excused themselves from his room.  
The second they were out of the room, the toughened, resolved Hope broke down sobbing softly, leaning against the wallpapered wall for support. Li rested a soft hand on her shoulder for comfort, his own eyes saddened, before he sighed and walked off to Sakura's room. His room, now, as well.  
Hope cried until she had no tears left to shed. She was so worried for her sister... She had no idea what was happening to her now, what that bastard of a Dark magicker was doing to her. Horrible pictures of torture danced through her mind, but Hope pushed them away stolidly. It wasn't in her nature to be a pessimist. She must hope and pray for the best, but be prepared for the worst.  
"God, watch over her," Hope whispered as she stood wearily and traced the long steps up to her lonely tower room.  
  
Sage was breaking down.  
Now that the others were gone he could show his emotions without fear, and he did so readily. Tears dripped down to dot the red bedcovers. Celos sat silently beside him, his tiny triangular head resting gently on Sage's knee. Tears filled Celos's eyes, but he offered nothing but his silent comfort. Which helped Sage more than any reassuring words would have.  
Sage thought hopelessly as he fought back the overwhelming tears.   
The tears flooded the young man once more, his attempts to halt their progress futile.  
  
Li lay beside the sobbing Sakura, holding her close as she cried silently. Li knew she blamed herself for this, and no amount of words would show her how wrong she was.  
"Sakura, there was nothing you could do but use the Life Spell," Li murmured, stroking her hair as she clutched at his tear-damp shirt. "You saved Cecile's life."  
"At the cost of Patience's." Sakura mumbled bitterly, her head buried in Li's chest.  
"Patience isn't dead! We're going to get her back!" Li said firmly. "Don't lose hope, Sakura."  
"Li," Madison murmured from the doorway. Li and Sakura looked up from the bed. "The mail just came, and there's a letter for you."  
"From?" Li asked suspiciously.  
"Your mother." Madison said, handing the envelope to the blanching Li. Sakura sat up and rubbed away the lingering tears, recollecting herself successfully.  
"Great. Just what I need more of. Bad news." Li muttered as he slit the envelope open with a finger, shaking the letter itself out. Li scanned it briefly, a stunned, puzzled look on his face. Seeing the curiousity on Madison's and Sakura's faces, Li cleared his throat and began reading the letter aloud for their benefit.  
" 'Dear Li,  
I've gotten your letter informing me of your impromptu trip to America. And I couldn't agree more with your decision. The new Powers you felt, that even ~I~ felt, should indeed be trained, and you and Sakura are the right ones for the job.  
In fact, someone else was eager to meet the new Powers and visit you. They should be arriving shortly after you get this letter; we already did a scrying for your location. Welcome them with open arms, son, and best of luck and wishes.  
  
Love,  
Mother.  
P.S.- How is Sakura doing?' "  
Sakura sighed. "That's a relief. At least she approved."  
"Yes," Li agreed reluctantly. "But who could be the one coming?"  
Madison shrugged. "Your guess is as good as mine."  
  
Jade was laying in a desolate sprawl on a couch in the living room, sniffing and sighing often. What was happening to her poor baby right now? Was she safe?  
Jade silently prayed with heartfelt fervor.  
Knock, knock, went the door.  
Jade sighed and heaved herself from the couch. The last thing she wanted right now was visitors. It was so much easier to be depressed alone.  
The girl standing at the door was someone Jade had never seen before, but she certainly looked nice enough, with a friendly smile on her tanned face. She had long, dark black hair, and amber eyes. She fidgetted slightly, shifting a large knapsack over one shoulder. She was dressed in a long, slitted and beaded white skirt and a sleeveless red blouse.  
"Is Li Showron here?"  
Jade nodded slightly, wiping the remainder of her tears from the corners of her eyes. "And you are?"  
"Meilin Rae," the girl said cheerfully, looking much more at ease. "Can I come in?"  
  
Meilin paused silently before the door, a smile beginning. What would Li's face look like when he saw her? He'd probably have a stroke, which made Meilin snicker softly in wicked humor.  
Li and Sakura looked up in surprise as the door swung open with a creak. Standing in the doorway was a smiling Meilin.  
"Hi!" Meilin said cheerfully, snickering inwardly at their dumbfounded expressions. Sakura was leaning against a thick wall of pillows plumped behind her back, and Li was sitting beside her with his legs swung over the bed's edge.  
"Meilin?!?" Li gasped, his eyes wide as dinner plates.  
"Surprised?" Meilin asked with a laugh.  
Li stood and hurried over to her, hugging her tightly. "It's good to see you again, Meilin."   
Meilin blushed furiously. "It's only been a few years, Li. Geez..."  
"Hello, Meilin," Sakura murmured softly, leaning against the pillows for support. Sakura looked so very pale and wan...  
"Are you okay, Sakura?" Meilin asked in concern, pushing Li away absently as she hurried over to the girl.  
Sakura smiled sweetly. "Not quite."  
"Sakura performed a Life Spell yesterday," Li said softly, his eyes shadowed.  
"And we lost a new Power because of it," Sakura whispered bitterly, tears stinging her eyes.  
Meilin stared from one to another. "Explain, please, 'cause I'm lost."  
Li did so quickly, before Sakura had the opportunity. She was much too tired as it was; Li didn't want her straining herself any further. Meilin was dumbfounded by how much had occured in a mere month, and said as much.  
"It's a good thing I decided to come, I think," Meilin said slowly. "Sounds like you need someone to keep you going."  
"We're going to get Patience back, Meilin. No matter what," Sakura said determinedly.  
Meilin nodded earnestly. "And I don't doubt that one bit, Sakura. Not one bit."  
  
Madison stood at the high-vauted picture window in the living room, staring out at the sun-dappled trees. She sighed sadly as the thought of poor Patience flashed across her mind unbidden.  
Warm arms circled around her waist as Shawn pulled her close, startling her from her silent reverie.  
"Thinking of Patience?" Shawn said, not quite in question.  
Madison sighed wryly. "Is there anything else on anyone's mind?"  
"You did hear about Meilin Rae arriving?" Shawn whispered as he rested his chin on the top of Madison's head.  
Madison nodded slightly. "Li was glad to see her. She's certainly managed to cheer Sakura up and get her mind off of Patience, and that makes Li feel better, himself."  
"I'm so glad they've gotten things straightened out," Shawn murmured earnestly. "It wasn't normal for them to be apart for so long."  
"I so completely agree with you," Madison said with a small grin. A brief memory flickered across Madison's mind. "Shawn?"  
"Hmmm?" Shawn murmured.  
"What were you going to say the night Morgog and Katalia appeared? You never did get a chance to tell us."  
Shawn sighed softly, and Madison turned to look at him, perplexed. "Now's not the time, Madison."  
Madison's eyes searched through Shawn's. "But it must have been important to you to begin announcing it to everyone."  
"Oh, it's important to me, all right," Shawn agreed whole-heartedly. "But now really isn't the time. Everyone's much too upset."  
"Is it bad news then?" Madison asked softly, returning her attention to the outdoors.  
"Completely opposite." Shawn said softly, staring at Madison's reflection in the crystal-clear glass. "But now isn't the right time.."  
"I'm going to die of curiosity, you know." Madison said grumpily.  
"Oh, I sure hope not," Shawn teased, turning Madison and kissing her. "Then where would I be?"  
"Without the smartest woman in the world," Madison teased back with a laugh.  
  
Patience woke with a start. She blinked in surprise, then pushed herself up on shaking arms.  
Patience thought in alarm, glancing about frantically. Dark stone walls greeted her at every corner, and she was lying on a giant red-covered bed.  
With a gasp, Patience realized she was no longer dressed in her old clothes. She now wore a long, silky black dress studded with black beads.  
"I see you're finally awake," a soft voice whispered.  
Patience spun about in fear, her long black hair falling across her frightened, glassy green eyes.  
A young man stepped silently from the shadows, dressed in black robes inscribed with dark red sigals of an eclipsed sun. A black sword hung sheathed over one shoulder.  
Patience's eyes widened. This man looked so like Sage somehow, but with darker, eerier eyes and longer hair.  
"I believe we haven't been properly introduced," the man began in a silky voice, bowing slightly. Patience crawled back until her back was against the wall, terrified of this man. Power, immense Power, radiated from him, pulsing an oily black. "My name is Aku. And what is yours, fair Lady?"  
"You're the Dark magicker," Patience whispered. She ~WAS NOT~ going to tell this man anything! This was the man behind Sage's illness, behind the fear and unease in the mansion.  
Aku inclined his head slightly in agreement. "Yes, but I am not your enemy."  
Patience scoffed. "Of course you are! You're the one that hurt Sage!"  
"I assure you," Aku began in an apologetic tone. "That was entirely out of my hands. My construct, Katalia, got out of hand and acted on her own accord."  
"You expect me to believe that?" Patience whispered disdainfully. "You ordered her to attack us!!"  
Aku sighed wearily. "But I gave no such order! I did not wish for Katalia to hurt anyone, let alone my nephew!"  
Patience's blood ran cold as she felt her eyes widening in surprise. "Nephew?" she whispered weakly, barely audible.  
Aku nodded softly with a benevolent smile. "My nephew, Sage. Is he doing better? He's recovered hasn't he?" If Patience hadn't been so stunned and frightened, she would have noticed that this man's concern was faked. But as it was, Patience believed his concern to be true.  
"Why should I tell you anything?" Patience whispered. But Aku saw her doubt, knew she was beginning to believe him.  
"Because I am your friend!"  
"Friend?!?" Patience said angrily. "You took me ~from~ my friends!"  
"But are they really your friends?" Aku murmured slyly.  
"What are you saying?" Patience demanded angrily. "Of course they are!"  
"So they say.... But looks and words can be deceiving. They've been playing you for a fool, Power." Aku urged.  
Patience shook her head determinedly. "They ~are~ my friends! They wouldn't lie or hurt me!"  
"Are you so sure?" Aku said in surprise.  
"Of course!" Patience said furiously.  
"Then see the error of your thoughts," Aku said with a casual wave of his hand. Patience's eyes widened as a large white glowing hole appeared before her. Shimmering in the pale, milky light of the globe was a watery image. The image slowly solidified, and words finally drifted to Patience's ears.  
"It's too bad that the other magicker stole her," Patience could hear Sakura's voice whisper faintly as she leaned closer to Li, arms around his neck.  
Li nodded with a rueful sigh. "We won't get as much magic from the other two alone."  
Patience thought in disbelief.  
Sakura smiled softly, kissing Li. "There'll be more than enough for a while. It'll take a year or more before the magic begins to drain off, then all we have to do is seek out another group of Powers for sacrifice."  
Li nodded in agreement. "How much longer until the ritual?"  
"A week at the least," Sakura replied diffidently. "Maybe two. If we work hard, we may even be able to include the new Power, Nadissa, into the sacrifice. She isn't as powerful as the other two, but her magic's strong enough."  
Blood pounded in Patience's ringing ears. She couldn't possibly be hearing correctly! Her friends, Dark magickers?!?  
Aku sighed sadly as he waved the globe-image away. "Sad, isn't it? They fooled you so well."  
"But Sakura's so nice!" Patience protested in a hollow voice. "She did the Life Spell for Cecile!!"  
Aku sighed gently, sitting on the edge of the bed Patience sat upon, looking at her as a parent would a small child. "She performed the Life Spell to reinforce her ploy, can't you see that? It was all an eleborate sham, designed to blind you and the other Powers to the horrible truths. How do you think Sakura's magic became so strong? She's been performing sacrificial ceremonies for years!"  
"No!" Patience cried, clutching her throbbing head in clawed hands. "They're my friends! And you're a Dark magicker! You're tricking me!!"  
"I may be a Dark magicker," Aku agreed solemnly. "But I obtain my magic by the lesser degrees of Dark magic, by using the powers given off by jealousy and hatred. Sakura and Li are the truly Dark magickers, who obtain their magic through sacrifices. ~I~ saved you from them. And I shall save your sister and my nephew as soon as I can."  
Aku's magic was subtlely warping Patience's mind, convincing her his lies were truths. Patience's hands slowly lowered, her head bowed for a long moment. When she finally looked up, tears glinted in her eyes.  
"How could I have been so blind?" Patience whispered, her eyes blank and lifeless. "You're completely right. What can I do to help you save Sage and Hope?"  
  
Katalia was moodily pacing the length of her room. Katalia thought bitterly.  
Katalia was no fool; she had seen and understood the look in her Master's eyes when she had delivered the unconscious Patience at his feet.  
Her Master wished to own this new Power, body and soul.  
Which made her the second place woman in his life, once again. After the past sixteen years, Katalia was surprised she hadn't seen this coming. Master Aku had gone through several playthings and coveted Power-holders over the years since he had first created Katalia. She should be used to be shunted aside as second-best by now.  
But she wasn't.  
Futher more, Katalia detested being second-best. It made her think she was inferior to others, and that just couldn't be true. She was a perfect creature, in body and mind. ~She~ should be the only woman in Aku Darkness's life.  
But this new Patience was going to be all Aku thought of for the next few weeks, or maybe even months. Once he tired of her (or destroyed her in a fit of rage), and if he had not already obtained a new plaything, he would once again turn to Katalia. That was the way it had been for years.  
Katalia fell back on her bed, staring up sullenly at the stone ceiling. ~Her~ weather magic had created this hidden sanctuary for her Master, she was the one that tended his hurts and truly cared for him. She should be the only one he thought of.   
But she wasn't.  
Katalia groaned and punched her pillow angrily. The fabric exploaded, showering the furious construct with snowy white feathers. Katalia blew them away with a wisp of magic angrily.  
Katalia began.   
A picture flashed across Katalia's mind with this thought. The young sorcerer from Japan... Li Showron.  
A wicked smile played across Katalia's icy features.   
"He may be worth looking into," Katalia whispered aloud with fiendish delight.  
  
Leo laid a gentle hand on Hope's shoulder, startling her awake. "Are you okay?"  
Hope blinked blearily and rubbed at her eyes, raising her head from the kitchen table she'd fallen asleep at. Piles of large, dusty books concerning magic surrounded her.  
"What time is it?" Hope asked wearily, confused as she peered nearsightedly at Leo.  
"Past noon." Leo said as he took the seat next to Hope. "What have you been doing all night?"  
"Looking through all of these books Kero brought." Hope sighed, stacking them neatly in a pile.  
"Why?" Leo asked curiously as he snatched one from her hand. "The Love of Magic?" Leo read the title aloud with a smile.  
Hope grinned, before quickly sombering. "I've been thinking back to the night Patience was abducted..."  
Leo's expression immediately became contrite.  
"And I was wondering if you remembered anything that happened?"  
Leo shook his head sadly. "I passed out before anything happened, remember?"  
"Yes, I know that," Hope said patiently. "But I can clearly remember you calling out to me!"  
"Calling out to you?" Leo echoed, confused.  
"You don't remember?"  
Leo silently shook his head, perplexed.  
"I thought so," Hope said in a satisfied way, pulling one of the books from the stack. She flipped through the yellowed, aged pages for a moment, then paused. "Listen to this: 'When most magickers think of the term 'soulmate', they think of the other half of themselves. This in actual fact is the clearest interpretation of the term, for out there is someone for everyone, magicker or no. Soulmates that have met and become close often feel physical, mental, and emotional pain if they are separated from each other for long periods of time, and when one soulmate is taken from the other against their will, the souls will sometimes even Call out to each other. This Calling has even been recorded to happening to non-magickers.'."   
"Hope, don't suggest-" Leo began hastily, blushing crimson. Hope waved her hand in interruption.  
"You didn't let me finish!" Hope cleared her throat and began again. " 'But in the case of magickers, there is a clear and easy way to discover soulmates. Soulmates will appear, to the magic mind's-eye, to have entertwining magics. Even when soulmates are divided, threads of their magics will connect the two together.' "  
"So how does this help you any?" Leo asked, puzzled.  
"Well, when I use my magic mind's-eye, I can see a red thread of Sage's magic trailing off into the distance. And there's a faint, purple-blue strand connected to him that's originating from the same direction."  
"You're suggesting that Sage and Patience are soulmates." Leo said thoughtfully.  
Hope shrugged with a weary smile. "Why not? Anyway, maybe we could follow the strands and find Patience in the process."  
"Sounds like a good enough idea to me," Leo said. "But what about all that Calling stuff?"  
Hope smiled slyly. "Oh, nevermind. I just thought it was interesting."  
As Hope scooped up her books and hurried from the kitchen, trailing dust behind her, Leo watched her go with a bewildered, studying look.  
  
Shawn looked away from the bright light streaming in through the window, his mind uneasy with unrest. He looked down at the small velvet box he held with a sigh.  
I know I should ask Madison, but when? Everyone's too sad and depressed right now, and I know Sage's hurting. It would be cruel to rub my happiness with Madison in his face when he's lost Patience.  
But then the memory of the warning he had given Li such a long time ago, it seemed, sprang into his mind.  
Shawn asked himself, rolling the small velvet box in his hand.  
I might. Shawn realized honestly.   
  
Madison looked up from her book at the sound of a knock at her door. "Hi, Shawn."  
"Madison, I want to talk," Shawn said apprehensively, hurrying in and sitting gingerly on the edge of Madison's bed.  
Setting the book aside with a puzzled, concerned expression, Madison crawled closer. "What do you want to talk about?"  
Shawn sighed, then took a deep breath to steady his shaking, suddenly pensive nerves. "Madison, about what I was going to announce the night Katalia and Morgog attacked..."  
"Yes?" Madison asked innocently curious.  
"I was going to ask you something," Shawn said with another deep breath. "Madison...." He slipped the velvet box into Madison's pale white hand. "Will you marry me?"  
Shawn turned to face Madison as he heard her gasp in surprise. Her face was so pale, her eyes wide in stunned shock as she stared down at the box. He turned away, afraid to see rejection in her eyes.  
"I know I shouldn't ask you now, not with everything going on. But I was afraid I'd never get the chance again." Shawn whispered.  
Madison silently opened the box and stared down at the small white-gold band resting inside. A small red ruby adorned the band as its only decoration.  
Shawn looked up, unable to sit silent any longer. "Madison, give me an answer! Please!" Shawn begged, his eyes catching and holding Madison's.  
There was a slight pause as Madison regained her composure.  
"Shawn, I..."  
Shawn held his breath, silently praying.  
"I...."  
  
  
MWAHAHAHAHA!!! I'm pure evil, I know! So, do you think Madison'll say yes? Yes, I know I'm one of the most predictable people in the world, but humor me and at least ~act~ apprehensive and unsure. *(^-^)*  
I'm just about ready to cram my pencil down someone's throat the next time someone asks me "Are you going to Homecoming with Ameoba Boy?" And my math book will be fast to follow if anyone then follows that question with "Oh, you two make such a cute couple!"  
*Growls warningly, flexing claws experimentally*   
Any-hoo, the next chap's gonna have:  
Patience- Good or Evil?; more Li and Sakura sap, more Shawn and Madison, Sabyina and Sage hatch a plan for rescue, and Nadissa discovers something unexpected, unpredicted and OMIGOD!! I just can't believe it!! Can it possibly be true?!?!?  
I'll leave y'all with that little bit to chew on and wonder about.  
I know. It's fun bein' evil. In the words of Da Bomb: "Heaven doesn't want me, and Hell's afraid I'll take over." *(^-^)* 


	14. Chapter Fourteen: Wouldn't You Like To K...

You Set Me Free, You Give My Heart Wings  
Part Three (Contin.): The Ending  
  
So, is everyone eager and ready to go?  
You've got everything you want, nothing holdin' ya back?  
You wondering what's gonna happen next?  
You should, because- let me tell ya- you'll never expect what happens in this next chap!!  
Well, let's get goin'!!!  
  
{Disclaimer}  
Don't own,  
don't care,  
yeah, I know,  
it's not fair.  
  
Chapter Fourteen: Wouldn't You Like To Know?  
  
"Of course I will, you ass!!!" Madison exclaimed affectionately, throwing her arms around a very much relieved Shawn.  
"What a loving way to show you care," Shawn muttered snidely.  
"What was that, honey?" Madison asked much too sweetly.  
"Nothing, dear!" Shawn ammended carefully.  
"Well, you were taking much too long, Shawn!" Madison pouted, crossing her arms. "I was just about ready to ask you myself. Although, I must admit that you startled me by proposing now."  
"I do my best," Shawn said with a cocky grin.  
"You!" Madison laughed, punching him softly as she slipped the engagement ring on and kissed him. "You can be such a dear sometimes."  
"That's sometimes with a capital "S"," Shawn said happily. "I'm an ass most of the time."  
"No argument here!" Madison said cheerfully, earning a noogie for her trouble.  
  
"KERO!!!"  
The floor and very walls trembled as Meilin stomped from her room in a killing fury.  
"KERO!!!!!"  
Meilin stalked down the hall, hanging pictures shaking and crashing to the floor in her wake.  
Kero rubbed furiously at his chocolately face in an attempt to obliviate the evidence as he swallowed the last bit of his stolen goodies. He hurriedly shoved the remaining evidence of his crime under Sakura's pillow, then adopted a look of serene innocence just as Meilin stormed into the room.  
"YOU ATE MY CHOCOLATES, DIDN'T YOU, YOU LITTLE STUFFED ANIMAL?!?!?!?"  
"What are you talking about, Meilin?" Kero asked, just a little too sweet and innocent.  
Meilin visibly restrained herself from leaping on Kero and strangling him until his face turned blue and his eyes popped out. "You had no right to eat my chocolates!!!"  
Kero floated just a little farther out of reach. He didn't like the look in Meilin's eyes....  
Meilin pointed accusingly at the half-hidden chocolate box poking from beneath Sakura's pillow. "You, little-"  
Meilin dove at Kero, tackling him to the bed.  
Sage woke from an uneasy, nightmare-filled doze as the sounds of screams and yells of pain blasted from Sakura and Li's room down the hall.  
  
Sakura and Li were walking by the woods in the moonlight, hand-in-hand.  
"Sakura, don't feel guilty," Li murmured. "You did what you had to, and you saved a life. Nadissa said Cecile's already up and walking."  
Sakura heaved a heavy sigh. "But Patience was kidnapped because of me."  
Li shook his head firmly. "You couldn't have known it was a trap. You did the right thing at the time. You're not guilty for anything besides saving a woman's life."  
Sakura stopped walking with the barest of smiles. "Li, I'd be lost without you. I don't think I could have survived all of this without you."  
Li hugged her close, standing silently in the pool of moonlight for a long moment. "I love you, Sakura." Li whispered, running his hands down her back.  
"I love you, Li." Sakura whispered as she buried her face in his chest, holding him close with a deep need.  
~'Cause you're all I want,  
You are all I need.  
You are everything.  
Everything.~  
  
Patience stared down the lenth of her purple magic arrow, sighting along its length at the far-in-the-distance target.  
With a hiss, the arrow struck the bull's-eye, quivering as a pleased, smirking Patience lowered her bow of magic light.  
"You're doing remarkably well," Aku said silkily. "Do you think you're ready to help your sister and my nephew?"  
Patience smiled.  
  
Hope bolted up in bed as she Sensed the so familiar Power.   
"Patience?!?!"  
She was up and running down the staircase, through the halls and out the doors before she realized Sage ran alongside her.  
Li Sensed the Powers before they actually appeared. The purple-blue tinged magic of Patience was welcoming to Sense, but the oily black of the Dark magicker was anything but. He'd summoned his sword and pushed Sakura behind him before he even realized he was moving.  
A foggy gray mist swirled about as two figures appeared. The first visible was a young man with black hair, eyes, and robes. He looked so like Sage it was eerie.  
But the young woman who followed him...  
Patience had changed so much Li barely recognized her. Her always-kept-down black hair was pulled up in an elegant bun, her green eyes were cold, icy and steely, and she was wearing a strange, long black and bead-studded dress Li had never seen her wear before.  
"Patience?!?!" Sakura whispered in disbelief.  
Patience smiled, a cold, unfeeling smile that chilled Sakura.   
"Patience!!!" Hope cried as she stumbled towards them, Sage trailing behind her.  
Surprisingly, Patience paid no heed to her young, joyful sister. She merely stared penetratingly at Li and Sakura.  
"You two tricked us so well," Patience murmured in cold anger.  
"What are you talking about?" Sakura asked, confused. Li was slowly lowering his sword, but he glared vemomously at the Dark magicker. By his tensed stance, he was completely prepared for battle if it came to it. But the magicker remained coldly silent, an unfriendly smile on his handsome face.  
"Confess, Dark magickers!!" Patience spat out angrily. "Confess of your plans for my sister and Sage!!"  
"Plans?" Sakura echoed weakly, bewildered. "Dark magickers??"  
Patience laughed cruelly. "You're such a good actress, Sakura, you should be in the movie business."  
"What's happened to you, Silent?" Hope murmured, tears filling her eyes. Sage stared at Patience with pleading, confused eyes.   
"Patience," the Dark magicker finally spoke. Sage's attention immediately turned to the hidden-in-shadows man, and his confused expression was replaced with one of horror and disbelief.  
"Uncle...." Sage whispered as he fell weakly to his knees in shock.  
Aku paid no attention to the numbed boy. "I believe they will not confess. Perhaps the time for talking is through."  
"Yes, Aku," Patience said with a grin of wicked delight. "You're quite right."  
Li stumbled back in surprise as a large bow similar to Yue's but made of purple magic sprang into existance, falling into Patience's hands.  
Patience crowed in delight at the shocked look on Li's face. "Didn't expect shy, quiet Patience to fight back, eh, Dark magicker?!?"  
"Patience, listen to us!!" Sakura cried desperately. "We're not your enemies!! He is, and he's polluted your mind with his magic!!" Sakura pointed at the smiling Aku in desperation. She didn't want to hurt Patience- it was the ~last~ thing she wanted- but she wouldn't let Li get hurt. If she had to, she'd fight back. But how could she against someone who had been her friend?!?  
Patience paid no attention to the girl's frantic pleas of reason, nor of the horror-struck Hope and Sage. She merely pulled back the arrow, sighting along it in fiendish delight.   
"I will stop your lying for good, Dark magickers!! You won't hurt Sage or Hope!!" Patience ranted deludedly, letting her arrow fly with a satisfied smile.  
  
Sakura and Li were thrown to the side as someone pushed them to the ground and from the arrow's path. The flying missle continued on into the woods.  
Sakura pushed herself up, throwing a Shield around herself and Li as she did so. When she looked up, she saw a brief glimpse of a disappointed Patience and a wrathful Aku before the two flickered and disappeared. She felt like fainting; poor Patience wasn't being tortured, but she'd been brainwashed!  
But then Sakura saw who had rescued them, and she very nearly did faint.  
Standing there with a smug look was Katalia.  
"I suppose you two owe me now," Katalia said with a smirk as she pulled the stunned Sakura to her feet.  
Li's sword flashed across Katalia's eyes in a heartbeat, coming to rest pressed against her throat.  
"Why are you here, bitch?" Li growled warningly, his sword pressing closer meaningfully.  
Katalia heaved a suffering sigh. "I just saved your lives! Can't you trust me?"  
"NO!!!" Li and Sakura shouted angrily.  
Katalia sighed again with a roll of her white eyes. "I saved you, and I'm still here, because I no longer wished to be controlled and ordered about by Aku Darkness."  
"That's impossible," Sakura said. "You're a construct; he created you. Magickers do not give their constructs freewill. That way there'd never be the risk of revolt or desertion."  
Katalia smiled slightly. "Master Aku made me more human than he thought. I follow my own orders now, and I'd like to destroy every single one of his plans for revenge against all the years he's held me against my will!!"  
"And that's why you saved us?" Li growled, disbelieving. "What a bunch of-"  
"I only saved the two of you because it ruined one of Aku's plans!" Katalia began patiently. "Sorry, but it wasn't because I'm all goodie niceness. I ~was~ created by a Dark magicker, anyway. I only did it to ruin his perfect little dream."  
Li lowered his sword the barest millimeter. "I still don't think we should buy-"  
"You don't have to!" Katalia said sweetly. She suddenly flipped backwards, out of reach. She flashed a pearly white smile and winked.  
"See ya."  
With a flash, she disappeared.  
  
"That magicker is our uncle?!?!" Shawn exploaded in disbelief.  
Sage nodded wearily, taking a sip from his hot chocolate before going on. "I never met him in person before, but I once saw his picture in one of Mom's photo albums. The strange thing is, the picture I saw was from nineteen years ago, and he hasn't change at all in appearance!"  
"Magickers can use magic to prevent aging," Sakura explained patiently as Kero tossed a giant marshmallow up in the air, his mouth wide open in preparation for it. But Sakura absently caught it before it landed and dunked it in her hot chocolate before Kero could blink in surprise. "And him being your uncle might explain where you two got such powerful magic."  
Hope sighed into her steaming mug, her face the picture of abject misery. "Patience didn't even seem to notice us," she said sadly, referring to herself and Sage. "And she tried to kill you, Li!"  
"And she might have succeeded if Katalia hadn't stopped her," Li mused thoughtfully. "I wonder why she ~really~ saved us?"  
"To score brownie points?" Madison volunteered.  
"Maybe," Sakura agreed hesitantly. "Madison, when'd you get the new ring?"  
Madison and Shawn began blushing crimson, looking much abashed and guilty.  
"Um, well, see..." Shawn stammered out. He knew they'd be furious that they hadn't been informed yet...  
"Shawn proposed, and I accepted," Madison finally managed to say.  
Hushed silence fell over the large table. Kero was frozen in mid-sip, a mashmallow was halfway to Meilin's mouth, and everyone wore identical looks of stunned shock.  
"Honey, you deal with this," Shawn whispered to Madison before anyone could recover. "I'm going to bed."  
"But-" Madison stammered helplessly as Shawn slipped from the room, bare seconds before everyone erupted from their silence.  
  
It was a few hours before sunrise, Patience's favorite time of day. Sage was sitting awake, staring into space drearily.  
He couldn't believe what had happened to Patience; true enough, she hadn't been physically injured, but she was oblivious to reason. That damn bastard of a-  
Sage stopped himself. No, my ~uncle~ warped her mind. That seemed to make things sound even more bitter to his ears. A member of his own family was twisting a shy, helpless young girl into something they wanted and could use.  
But Sage didn't have long to dwell on such hateful thoughts, for just then a shining gold Saby hovered into the room.  
"Saby!" Sage whispered in surprise, afraid to wake up the others sleeping just down the hall, or the snoring Celos who lay stretched across the foot of his bed. "What are you doing here?!? Is something wrong with Cecile or Nadissa? Or Leo?"  
Saby shook her head slowly, a solemn expression on her tiny oval face. "I came by myself. My Mistress doesn't even know of this visit."  
"Why'd you come?" Sage whispered. It must be something important for Saby to fly the whole way here in the dead of night-  
"I've come up with a plan to save the kidnapped Power." Saby said quietly, a guilty look washing over her face. "If only I had been more prepared; if only that witch hadn't taken me by surprise... Patience might never have been taken."  
Sage shook his head stubbornly. "You can't blame yourself. No one but damn Aku and Katalia are to blame for any of this."  
"I've heard the news from Hope," Saby said quietly as she settled gently beside the still-sleeping Celos. Her voice was the barest whisper, but Sage could hear it clearly in the infinite silent of the house. "That Aku Darkness is your uncle."  
Sage sighed. "I truly don't give a damn if I'm related to him. If I get the chance, I'll destroy him."  
Saby nodded in agreement with the cold fury in Sage's voice. "You would be entirely justified in doing so, as well. But you must push away your anger for now and listen to my plan with a clear head."  
Sage nodded and did so with a struggle.  
Saby described her plan to her attentive audience as the stars began to fade and the moon began to set, replaced with the bright sun of the morning.  
  
"No, no, and triple no!!" Sakura put her foot down firmly.  
"Why not?" Sage asked angrily, leaning against the table and staring at Sakura.  
"It's too big of a risk!" Sakura argued sensibly. "It puts everyone in much too much danger! I won't have you doing it!!"  
"But the plan's perfectly airtight!" Sage argued back. "As long as everyone does what they're supposed to, Saby's plan will work!!"  
Sakura sighed wearily, resting her head on her arms. "No plan is airtight, Sage-"  
"And we're doing this of our own freewill!" Sage interrupted stubbornly. "And frankly, Sakura, I'm going to follow through on this plan even without your consent."  
Sakura looked up at the determined Sage with a sigh of defeat.  
  
"So tell us again what the entire plan is?" Shawn asked quietly. They were all once again seated around the long, round table in the living room.  
Sage sat with Saby on one side and Celos on the other. "I already know where Aku's lair is; I found it the day Morgog and Katalia first attacked. Saby flew over the building and made sure. She could sense Aku and Patience's powers clearly, but they were slightly hidden by Shields. Now, Kero, Yue, Celos, and Saby will all transform and begin to destroy the top building. From what Saby Sensed, Aku's hiding in the cellars. And we know Patience won't be hurt by falling debris, because she'll most likely have a Shield around her."  
"Okay, so that's the first half of the plan," Meilin reasoned. "But what next?"  
"If there are any more constructs, Hope and Shawn are to take them out before they can attack. Sakura, Li, and I will take Aku head on. And Meilin, Madison and Nadissa are going to try to get through to Patience and make her see reason."  
"What if there are more constructs than Hope and Shawn can handle?" Li asked.  
"Kero and Yue will help them once we've drawn Aku out. Saby and Celos are going to help Sakura, Li, and I if anything happens."  
"What if Meilin, Nadissa, and Madison can't get through to her?" Shawn asked worriedly, his hand enclosing around Madison's. "What if she decides they're threats and she attacks them? Nadissa's much weaker magically than Patience, and Madison and Meilin don't have any magic themselves."  
"Saby, why don't you tell them?" Sage offered. Saby nodded politely to everyone.  
"I have been in direct contact with my Mistress since mid-morning, and she has been pouring through books of magic with Kero and Julian since then."  
"So that's why the Stuffed Animal didn't try to steal my muffin," Meilin whispered snidely to Sakura, prompting a slight, strained giggle from the worried sorceress before Saby continued.  
"And my Mistress has discovered something that will help us immensely!" Saby said proudly, fairly glowing. "She has found a Cleansing Spell! The Cleansing Spell will erase the magic taint of Aku and show Patience the clarity of reason!"  
Smiles of relief broke out, and Shawn look much comforted by this thought.  
"So when do you plan to commence Saby's plan?" Li asked, holding his breath.  
"Tomorrow at sunset. We've got to try to keep some of this hidden from the town." Sage reasoned.  
Sakura smiled, pulling two Clow Cards from thin air. "I think I can be of some help in that department."  
Smiles broke out as Sakura lightly tossed the Sleep and Erase Card to the table.  
  
Julian and Kero left near lunchtime, leaving several of the more interesting magic and spell books behind for Nadissa to read and study.  
"Hmm," Nadissa said thoughtfully as she looked down at the faded blue ink on the crinkled yellow parchment.  
The Clarity-Scrying Spell.   
Nadissa studied the simple enough spell for a moment longer before setting the book down and taking a steadying, deep breath.  
Nadissa thought for a moment, then smiled.  
She spoke the words of the spell, then paused to allow the magic to gather.  
"Show me my father!" Nadissa said, looking down at the floor, where a small white globe had appeared.  
The globe remained empty for a long minute, but then a face solidified.  
Nadissa's heart almost stopped. she thought wildly in disbelief, staring down with wide, shocked eyes.  
  
  
  
So y'all, was that surprising? Were any of you expecting that? Lemme tell ya, by the end of this fic, the title should be "All in the Family". This bit of news won't be the last surprising, startling info. Let's just say that everyone in the story is connected to each other somehow....  
Any-hoo, I hope I've still got some die-hard fans hanging on and trying to read the fic to the bitter (or maybe not so bitter) end. And I also hope some of said fans are actually enjoying the fic.  
O-well, I can dream, can't I?  
Next chaps rough outline:  
The coming battle, and some more revelations.  
The song mentioned was from Lifehouse, No Name Face, and it's called Everything. But, you should already know that, 'cause it was in a previous chap.  
Please be a considerate CCS fan and keep readin'. I'm trying my best. Pity me. *(^-^)*  
O, and one last thing, and I'm sorry if I sound redundent. REVIEW, REVIEW, REVIEW, REVIEW, REVIEW, REVIEW, REVIEW, REVIEW, REVIEW, REVIEW, and REVIEW!!!  
Sorry. 


	15. Chapter Fifteen: The Beginning Of The Fi...

You Set Me Free, You Give My Heart Wings  
Part Three (Contin.): The Ending  
  
  
I'm slowly turning into zombie.  
No, not one of those brain-eatin' living dead. Although, I'm sure brains taste perfectly alright, all of you living dead readers out there. I don't want to get vampires and zombies after my ass.  
No, I mean the type of person who doesn't give a rat's ass about their life, who sits in a darkened room and watches tv and types on a dim computer screen all day.   
In other words, all teenagers in the world.  
Y'know, strange things have really been happenin' lately. First, I start High School. Secondly, I ask Ameoba Boy to the Homecoming Dance. Yep. You heard me right. ~I~ asked ~AMEOBA BOY~ to the Homecoming Dance! How strange is that? Thirdly, Max Nefertiri is cured of her depression, which is more good news than it is strange.   
And lastly, I know this sounds strange, I've fallen into a depression.  
Me.  
Happy, cheerful Raye Firearrows.  
Well, enough of my problems. Let's get started on this, the third to last chapter of "You Set Me Free, You Give My Heart Wings".  
  
{Disclaimer}  
Bright-eyed and bushytailed is just another way to say "a squirrel on crack".  
I'm sorry, just a temporary brain-lapse.  
Ameoba Boy: Temporary? Since when have you not been in a brain-lapse?  
*SMACK!!*  
Raye: Do you still wanna go to Homecoming with me?  
Ameoba Boy: Shutting up now.  
Raye: Got that taken care of.... Well, all that's left is.... is.... is... Hey, Ameoba Boy? What was I going to say?  
Ameoba Boy (without opening his mouth): Mmmmm!  
Raye: What?  
Ameoba Boy: Mmmmm!!!  
Raye: WHAT?!?!?  
Ameoba Boy: You were going to say Clamp owns the CCS characters!!  
*SMACK!!*  
Ameoba Boy: What was that for?!?!?  
Raye: I told you to shut up!!  
  
Chapter Fifteen: The Beginning Of The Final Conflict.....  
  
Sakura cuddled close to Li, savoring the comfortable closeness of his body next to hers. "Li..."  
"Sakura, nothing will go wrong," Li murmured, running his hands along her back. "Sage is right; as long as everyone follows the plan, nothing will go wrong."  
"Li," Sakura whispered worriedly, her hands clutching his arms. "You know as well as I that things rarely go as to plan."  
"We have to hope and pray, Sakura. You have to keep faith." Li whispered, holding her as close as he dared.  
He knew with an increasing dread how right Sakura's fears were. The next night may show them all still together, happy with Patience back to her normal self, but there was also the awful chance that they could fail; there was a horrible possibility of losing some of their own, of not being able to rescue Patience.  
  
Sakura looked up from her book as she felt eyes watching her. Josuah was staring across the table at her, a strange, searching look on his face.  
"Yes?" Sakura asked politely, setting down her book.   
Josuah shook his head as if to clear it. "You remind me of someone... And you look just like her, too."  
"Who?" Sakura asked curiously. She hadn't seen much of Josuah since she and the others had arrived from Japan. He was always busy drawing up new blueprints, and he never seemed to have much time for talking. As Sakura waited for an answer, it suddenly struck her that there was a strange resemblance between Josuah and her own father, Aiden.  
Josuah frowned and sighed, looking back down at his latest plans. "Nevermind. I can't seem to remember her name. But then, it seems as if it was quite a long time ago. At least a year or two before Patience was born."  
Sakura looked puzzled for a moment, but finally returned to her book, brushing away the strange feeling that had crept down her spine.  
  
"Come in!" Sakura called as someone knocked at her door.  
Madison, carrying a long, rectangular box, stepped inside and shut the door behind her. "Sakura, I've got something for you."  
"What?" Sakura asked curiously as Madison sat beside her on the bed.  
"Here." Madison said with a smile, handing the box to Sakura.  
"Madison, you know you shouldn't have gotten me anything," Sakura said, embarrassed.  
"But I didn't get it for you," Madison said with a wider smile. "I made it for you."  
Sakura grinned as she opened the box and saw the pink robes laying inside. "Brings back memories, Madison. How long has it been since you've made an outfit for me?"  
"Too long!" Madison said with a grin. "I started on it before we left Japan. It was going to be your birthday present, but I thought you should have it now."  
Sakura pulled it from the box and shook it out. The overlaying robe was a cherry-blossom pink, and the bottom a pale white. A large red ribbon was sewn across the right shoulder, with chinese symbols and cherry blossom sigals woven about it.  
Smiling appreciatively, Sakura carefully laid the robes on the bed before hugging Madison tightly.  
"Thanks, Madison," Sakura whispered.  
"No problem, Sakura," Madison murmured back. "I just thought that since every time you've ever worn one of my outfits, you've always come back safe, and that maybe.... Just promise me that whatever happens, you'll come back safely."  
"Of course, Madison," Sakura said softly.  
Madison pulled back with a rueful smile. "And you better not ruin the robes! I spent a lot of time and work on them!"  
Sakura smiled. "Of course."  
  
Hope stared at Nadissa in stunned disbelief. "But, that can't be possible!"  
Nadissa sighed, looking poleaxed herself. "I did the Clarity-Scrying Spell, and it showed me Aku Darkness! Hope, maybe he really is my father!"  
"But, that isn't possible!!" Hope argued stubbornly, eyes wide.   
"Hope, it makes so much sense!" Nadissa argued back, her face pale and drawn. "I pried my father's name from Mom. It's Antony Davisk. Antony Davisk, Aku Darkness. Sounds damned close, doesn't it?"  
"That doesn't mean anything!" Hope cried, dropping to her bed.  
Nadissa was perplexed by Hope's reaction to the news. I took the news better than she did! Why? "My father disappeared not even two days after I was born, and as soon as he was gone, Mom was diagnosed with cancer. Because they found a dark lump in her lungs! And Aku Darkness's magic is Dark! That's just a coincidence, too, huh?"  
"But," Hope said faintly.  
"And you told me that Katalia mentioned being created by Aku Darkness sixteen years ago, right? That would be right around the time my father left us!! And the Clarity-Scrying Spell was powerful magic, powerful enough to pierce through the Shields my father put up around himself because he didn't want me to find out who he was!! And I had to get my magic from somewhere; why not my father?!?"  
"It can't be true!" Hope said feebly.  
Nadissa dropped down onto the bed beside Hope. "Why is this so hard for you to accept! I know it's startling, but there's hard, concrete proof! Why can't you believe this?!?"  
"Because if it's true, then it means I'm in love with the son of the man who brainwashed my sister!!" Hope cried, lurching to her feet.  
Nadissa stared at Hope in complete surprise. "You're in love with Leo?"  
"Of course I am!" Hope snapped more waspishly than she wished. "It feels like I've always loved him!"  
"Does Leo know this?" Nadissa asked, standing as she did so.  
Hope paused by the windows, looking out at the palid, overcast grey sky. "No. Does he know about Aku?"  
"Not yet," Nadissa murmured. "I think it would be too hard for him to handle. He's just now coming to grip with the reality of magic, I can't throw our father's identity at him just yet."  
"Nadissa, if I get the chance," Hope started, gulping. "I'll kill Aku. I won't hesitate. Not even if he ~is~ your father."  
"I understand that," Nadissa whispered, bowing her head. Irrationally, she felt as though this was a horrible prospect, someone murdering her father. But the rational half of her mind reasoned with the other. Aku Darkness was not her father, not truly. He hadn't cared enough about his family to stay and protect them; no, he had deserted them and had left his wife with two young children and lung cancer caused by his own magic. She had never had a father, and she didn't have one now. "Maybe I shouldn't tell Leo at all. Maybe's it's better if he never knows."  
"But there might come a day when he has to know," Hope said softly.  
Nadissa nodded with a sigh. "Hope, you have to tell Leo you love him."  
"How?" Hope said with a scoff, turning to look at Nadissa. "We barely know each other, Nadissa. I shouldn't be in love with him yet! He won't have any feelings for me this soon either, and tonight I have to go into battle against your father!"  
"Hope, sometimes it isn't time that matters when it comes to love," Nadissa said softly, wisely as she turned to leave. "It's how much love you feel."  
Hope turned back to stare through her windows as Nadissa shut the door behind her.   
"Of course you can, Hope."  
Hope turned in surprise. Sage stood in the doorway, a serious, solemn look on his face. "You heard..."  
Sage nodded wordlessly, pausing silently for a long moment. "Sometimes I can hear thoughts around me. Very rarely. If I remember right, Li told me that Patience also has that ability." Sage's voice had softened as he mentioned Patience, and his eyes were so guilty and deep Hope looked away.  
"Sage..." Hope began softly.  
"Hope, you have no idea what it feels like to have passed up the chance to tell someone that you care, and then later find that person gone, perhaps for good." Sage murmured.  
Hope turned slowly. "You wish you'd told Patience you care for her."  
Sage nodded the barest in agreement. "And I had so many chances. Now, Patience may never know how I feel. And I hate the feeling, Hope. If you don't believe me, ask Sakura or Li, or even Madison and Shawn, how it feels to be away from someone, someone who doesn't truly know you care. You have to tell Leo, while you still have the chance."  
Before Hope could reply, Sage turned and left.  
She turned back to the windows, her head and heart in a turmoil.  
  
Saby, Kero and Celos sat together in a circle, each facing one another. All three wore varying looks of guilt or hesitation.  
"I..." All three began at once. They paused, falling silent for a moment.  
Kero spoke first. "Celos, Saby, I'm sorry about all of the mean things I've done or said about you. Celos, I'm sorry I'd steal your muffins and fight with you. Saby, I'm sorry I insulted you. I've been a real ass."  
Celos and Saby both thought inwardly.  
"Will you forgive me?" Kero asked pleadingly, his arms outstretched and his eyes begging. "Can we be friends?"  
Celos sighed softly. "Of course I forgive you, Kero. It's just a shame that I no longer have such a great enemy to argue with."  
Kero smiled crookedly as Saby spoke.  
"I agree with Celos entirely," Saby said congenially. "And as long as you promise to never be an ass again, I think I can be friends."  
"I'm not sure if I can promise to ~never~ be an ass again," Kero said honestly, a large grin plastered on his face. "But I can always promise to try."  
"Deal!" Celos and Saby chorused, all three shaking hands, er, paws and sealing the newly-founded friendship.  
  
Sakura broadcasted mindly to everyone in the house.  
Hope sighed as she looked about her room one last time. I suppose I'm as ready as I'll ever be. She quickly smoothed the gold skirt and leggings she was wearing, then checked the buttons one final time on the gold blouse. She had no idea why Madison had given her these clothes, but Madison had wanted her to wear them tonight so badly, she hadn't dared to refuse. And she inwardly thought they suited her perfectly.   
Tightening the gold kerchief and ribbon that kept her hair firmly held back from her eyes, Hope closed the door to her room behind her, cast a longing look across the staircase at Patience's unoccupied bedroom. Hope descended down the stairs slowly, reluctantly wondering of what the night's outcome would be.  
Sage closed his bedroom door with a sigh. Celos hovered after his Master silently, his fire-eyes solemn and serious.  
Madison checked her camera as she watched Shawn out of the corner of her eye. He wore the red robes she had given him as a gift last year, and nervously twirled his magic staff in his restless hands, watching with fear in his eyes as the white globe flashed through the light.  
Sakura, Li, and Meilin were downstairs, gathered around the living room table. Li wore his ceremonial robes, as did Meilin. Sakura wore the robes Madison had given her, and held her Clow Staff in pale, slightly trembling hands. Li's hand kept stretching towards the sword sheathed over his back, but he was not nervous enough yet to unsheath it. Meilin stared silently at the red wood of the table, doubt and worry swimming in her expressive amber eyes. She had tied her hair back in her traditional meatball-pigtails tonight, and tapped her foot restlessly. Yue stood with crossed arms and icy eyes beside an already transformed Kero.  
Nadissa waited outside on the porch, sitting stone-like on the front steps, her hands rolling a small bracelet of bronze beads about. Her hair had been pulled back in a bun, and she wore a close fitting bronze shirt, skirt and tights. Saby sat on her nervous Mistress's shoulder, her long tail waving curly patterns in the twilight air.  
"We're ready," Sage said quietly as he, Hope, Shawn, and Madison joined Sakura, Li, and Meilin in the living room. Sage was wearing a dark red shirt with blue jeans, his shirt a darker contrast to the paler red of Shawn's robes. Madison stood beside Hope, her blue and white dress matching Hope's gold clothing. Celos hovered over to a free space beside Kero and transformed, his eyes suspiciously wet.  
Jade hurried over to Hope, her eyes worried and brow creased. She hugged her youngest daughter close, fighting back tears as she did so.  
"I love you, Hope," Jade whispered, tightening her arms around her daughter. "Come back safe, and bring Patience with you."  
"I will, Mammy," Hope whispered back, a single tear falling to dot Jade's jade-green shirt.  
Josuah stared into Sage's eyes. "You're a good boy, Sage."  
"Thank you, sir." Sage murmured.  
"And I know you won't let anything happen to my daughters," Josuah continued. "But you be careful, and watch out for yourself, too."  
Sage smiled softly. "Thank you, sir."  
Meilin was the first to the door. "We should get this all over with as soon as we can. The faster this is done with, the better I'll feel."  
Sage and Hope followed Meilin, Shawn and Madison trailing behind them with the transformed Guardians following them.  
Sakura and Li had just reached the doorway when Josuah called, "Wait!"  
Sakura paused and turned slightly. "Mr. Dalie?"  
Josuah stared at Sakura, looking strangely as if he was looking through her, past her and at another. "Nadeshiko."  
"What?" Sakura asked, confused.   
"You're just like Nadeshiko," Josuah murmured. "Just like my brother's wife."  
  
Sakura was frozen in shock for a long, heart-stopping moment. And Li looked as surprised as she felt.  
"Sakura, we have to go!" Meilin called from outside.  
Meilin's voice broke the stunned silence. Josuah shook his head slowly, a confused look crossing his face, as Sakura and Li began to breathe again.  
"What did you say, Mr. Dalie?" Sakura asked weakly.  
"I-I'm not sure," Josuah mumbled shakily. "I'm sorry. Go ahead, Sakura. Patience needs you."  
Li decided they could question Josuah later. "He's right, Sakura. We have to go."  
"But..." Sakura whispered as Li pulled her outside after him.  
Saby had transformed already, and sat nervously alongside Kero and Celos, her agitation clear with each swish and flick of her tail. Sakura managed to shake off her surprise and regain her bearings.  
"We should head out-" Sakura began.  
"Don't leave yet!!" Someone called as they ran up the stone steps, stumbling from the darkness with ragged breaths.  
"Leo!" Hope exclaimed as he half-collapsed on the porch before her.  
"I didn't want you to leave before I had a chance to say good luck," Leo panted out, leaning against a support beam as he caught his breath.  
"Leo, you have to go back home and keep an eye on Mom," Nadissa said firmly as she seated herself on Saby's back.  
"I will, Dissa," Leo gasped out. "But I couldn't let you go without saying good luck."  
"You've said it!" Nadissa said waspishly. This waiting and suspense was hard on her nerves and temper. Saby silently spread her giant dragonfly wings, prepared to take off.  
Hope's mind was awhirl.   
Leo caught Hope's eyes and held them with his own as Sakura called on her Fly Card and sprouted wings. Hope's breath caught in her chest as her heart began hammering furiously. Sage and Meilin mounted Celos as Madison and Shawn settled themselves on Kero's back.  
"Come on, Hope," Sage urged as Sakura wrapped her arms around Li's waist.  
Hope paused for a moment, her eyes flickering from Leo to the others.  
"Leo," Hope whispered as she hurried forward, catching his hands in hers. "I love you."  
A stunned, surprised look crossed Leo's face as she quickly kissed him before turning and running to Yue.  
"Take care of Mom, Leo!" Nadissa called as she and Saby took off. Kero and his passengers quickly followed Saby and Nadissa's lead. Sage and Celos followed, with Sakura and Li close behind. Yue caught up Hope as he winged off after the others.  
Hope looked back with tears in her eyes at the small form standing alone on the porch.  
Leo watched as Hope disappeared into the night sky.  
"I love you, Hope."  
  
Sakura called back the Fly Card as they touched down to the ground in a deserted lot not even a block away from the dilapidated building Aku was using as his hideout. Her wings disappeared just as the Guardians landed.  
She pulled out the Sleep Card and tossed it up. "Sleep Card! Release and Dispell!"  
The small Sleep sped off, effectively putting everyone within seeing- or hearing-distance to sleep.  
Yue released Hope as Saby, Celos, and Kero shed their own passengers. "We're ready."  
Sakura nodded grimly, determined. Yue, Kero, Celos, and Saby took off once more, the powerful beats from their wings kicking up dirt and gravel.  
With wild roars, Kero and Celos hovered over the top of the sagging building, streams of fire-balls erupting from their opened mouths and striking the building, shaking the ground and sending shimmering heat-waves into the air. Saby screamed as she swung her body about, giant tongues of lightning striking the flaming building. Yue sighted along his white-blue arrow and released it with a small grin as it struck the center of the crackling brick roof-top.  
  
Aku and Patience were thrown to the ground as the building above began shaking and exploding wildly. "It's the work of that Japanese sorceress!" Aku spat angrily as he lurched to his feet, ignoring Patience as she struggled to find her own footing.  
"We've got to get out of here!" Patience cried in terror as a giant block of bricks crashed down from the ceiling.  
Aku agreed whole-heartedly. But first, he decided to turn the tables on the interferring Sakura and the others.  
"Constructs!!! Unleash!!!" Aku cried angrily as he blasted an opening to the outside with a strike of black magic.  
  
The breath caught in Hope's throat as she saw the explosion at the base of the demolished, crackling building. Dark, twisted shapes poured out, crawling across the flame-charred concrete with screams and shrill shrieks.  
Hope thought wildly as she and Shawn stood as ready as they could be to destroy the giant tide of black creatures.  
"Don't worry, Hope!" Shawn cried over the squeals. "These aren't very powerful! Their only strength is in their numbers!!"  
"That's not comforting!!!!" Hope screamed back as she called upon her magic, determined to win this battle.  
  
"Look!" Saby cried, pointing towards the wood's fringe with a braceletted paw. "That's them!"  
"Sage!!!" Celos cried. "They're trying to escape!!!"  
"Split them up!!!" Sage called desperately as he and the others raced around the building, diving recklessly into the woods. "Get them split up!!"  
"Yue!! Kero!!" Sakura cried. "Help Hope and Shawn!! They'll need it with so many constructs!!"  
Yue and Kero obediently sped off to do their Mistress's bidding as Celos and Saby sped down into the trees of the woods after Aku and Patience.  
  
  
Yeah, I know I should keep writing, but look on the bright side. There's only two more chaps left!!  
Is anyone curious to what Josuah said? Or how this whole thing'll turn out?  
I'm sorry that Julian wasn't really mentioned too much in this fic, and I'm equally sorry that Meilin doesn't play a major part, and that Errol and his Gang aren't even mentioned at all. But, this is my fic and that's the way I want it.  
Next Chap?  
Why, the Final Conflict of course!   
Please REVIEW and tell me how y'all like it!!  
Love and Bubble, Raye Firearrows! *(^-^)* 


	16. Chapter Sixteen: The Final Conflict

You Set Me Free, You Give My Heart Wings  
Part Three (Contin.): The Ending  
  
I just know y'all can't wait to see what happens next, so let's get going!!  
  
{Disclaimer}  
See, by my reasoning, normal people need screwed up people to take care of them.  
That's right, Clamp!!  
You need us freaks and weirdos and obsessive anime lovers!  
Without us, you've got no income, no way of life!  
You owe us!  
How much?  
Um, well, I think the ownership of CCS and maybe even MKR will just about cover it.  
*DOOR SLAMS IN FACE*  
Fine!! Be that way!! See if I care!!! At least I've still got all of my characters!!! Who needs to own the CCS characters?!? I can still write fics about 'em!!!  
  
Chapter Sixteen: The Final Conflict....  
  
"Aku!!!" Patience cried as Saby swept overhead, her claws latching into Patience's black dress.  
"You can't take her!" Aku growled angrily, lashing out at the giant Saby. Saby wheeled to the side, ducking the large bolt of black magic.  
Aku darted to the side as a sixth-sense pricked him warningly. As the Dark magicker rolled into the protecting shadows of the undergrowth, a searing-hot stream of fire blasted down where he had just moments before stood.  
"Damn you." Aku growled as he slinked farther from Celos's range, while Saby winged onwards with the struggling Patience held firmly in her paws.  
Celos warned Sage mindly.  
Sage's voice replied.   
  
  
  
Hope blasted another group of constructs with a ball of gold magic, looking away as they exploded with a scream.  
"Hang in there, Hope!" Shawn said encouragingly as he aimed a blast from his staff at more snarling constructs.  
I hope the others can get finished safely soon!! Hope thought desperately as she readied another blast. I don't know how much more of this I can stand.  
  
Saby dropped Patience in an unceremonious lump, glad to be rid of her. She had struggled and fought more than Saby thought was proper. The large Guardian hovered off just out of sight, to wait and watch while Meilin, Madison, and Nadissa did their part of the plan.  
Patience pushed herself up indignantly, smoothing her wrinkled and torn black dress, fussing with her hair, which had fallen untidily from its bun.  
"It looks like Saby did her job," a familiar voice said in relief, startling Patience. She lurched to her feet and peered about into the dark shadows of the buildings around her.  
Madison stepped from the darkness, her face open and friendly, her camera held tightly in her hands. Patience's eyes narrowed in suspicion as Meilin and Nadissa stepped forward as well, bracking Madison on either side.  
"What do you want?" Patience asked suspiciously.  
"To show you the truth, Patience," Madison said softly as Nadissa stepped forward a pace.  
  
Aku lurched through the trees, stumbling into the tiny clearing.   
"Hello, Uncle." A cold, frosty voice said as someone stepped from the shadows cast by the large trees. Sage's face was so hard and unfeeling, Aku took an invountary step backwards. And when Li and Sakura appeared behind the wrathful Sage, Aku's bravery fled completely. Sakura held the Sword Card in a chokehold, and Li's sword sparkled dangerously in the moonlight.  
"We're here to show you right from wrong," Sage said coldly. Aku took another step back as the Sword Card and Li's sword raised as one and a large, sparking ball of red magic sprang into Sage's hands.  
A whistle of air was the only warning as a white-and-blue shape flipped from the darkness, landing beside a surprised, startled Li.  
Katalia smiled cunningly. "Master, I'll take care of this one for you."  
Before anyone could move, Katalia had grabbed Li's arm and flickered out of sight, taking Li with her.  
"LI!!!" Sakura screamed.  
Aku wasn't sure what exactly was going on, but he was more than willing to use this opportunity for escape. He slinked silently into the darkness before a stunned, distaught Sakura and Sage could realize what had happened.  
  
Nadissa had just raised her hands and begun the Clarity Spell when she was interrupted.  
Aku suddenly flashed into being, standing beside the surprised, confused Patience. "Come, Patience! We're leaving!"  
Before anyone could move, Aku had grabbed the startled Patience's arm and flickered away again.  
  
"Sakura, we have to find out what happened to Aku!" Sage said desperately, helping the shaken, distraught Sakura to her feet.  
"Li, Li..." Sakura whispered, tears filling her eyes. "I knew Katalia was up to no good.... She wanted us to let our guard down and forget about her!"  
"Sakura! We have to find Aku!"  
"But what about Li?!?" Sakura whispered.  
"Li's strong enough to fight off Katalia if it comes to it!" Sage said as reassuring as he could, even as doubt and worry crept into his mind. "Celos!"  
"Master, Aku flickered out of sight! He's teleported somewhere!" Celos said worriedly as he landed and knelt to allow Sage to climb onto his back.  
"Damn it! He's gone back to get Patience! We have to find them!"  
  
Hope slumped wearily to the ground, depleted in strength and magic. Before she had a chance to collapse completely, Yue caught and steadied her.  
Shawn leaned heavily on his short staff, his face pale and sweat-slicked. "At least the last of the constructs are taken care of..."  
"But neither or you are in any condition to help the others," Kero said firmly. "Yue, stay here and watch over them. I'm going to find Sakura and see if I can help."  
  
"Saby, where did they go?!?" Nadissa asked urgently.  
Doubt filled the Guardian's eyes. "I'm not sure, but I can faintly Sense Patience."  
"Which direction?" Meilin asked determinedly, her face grim. They'd just lost the best opportunity they'd had of returning Patience to her old self, and now there was no telling what Aku was going to do to her. He had looked close to a killing fury when he had flashed into the lot.  
"To the east, in the woods," Saby said firmly, kneeling slightly and allowing them to climb onto her back.  
"Saby, you can't carry all three of us!" Nadissa said worriedly.  
Saby winced slightly but shook her head. "I'll manage. I'm strong enough."  
"Are you sure?" Madison asked as Meilin helped her up.  
Saby merely nodded then spread out her wings. "Everyone okay?"  
Three determined heads nodded, and Saby crouched as she prepared to launch herself into the air.  
  
Li blacked out as he was teleported, but woke a few moments after the teleportation had ended. He sat with his back against a thick tree, and Katalia was sitting before him, a wide, seemingly-friendly smile on her face.  
"You," Li growled angrily, trying to push himself up to his feet. But to his surprise, he not only found his hands tied behind his back and to the tree's trunk, he found himself staring down the blade of his own sword.  
Katalia smiled at Li's shockened expression and tightened her grip on his sword. "I wouldn't try to do anything rash, Li Showron."  
"Why are you doing this?" Li asked angrily. "I thought you didn't want to answer to your Master any longer." He knew it was meaningless to talk, but maybe he could buy himself enough time to think of a way to escape.  
Katalia fluttered her eyelashes at him demurely, as innocent as could be. "But I was telling you the truth! I ~do~ wish to be free of my Master. And I'm not really doing this for his benefit, either."  
"Then what do you want with me?" Li asked furiously, his eyes blazing.  
Katalia smiled and laughed softly, a cold, high laugh. "You. That's all I want. I want you to be mine."  
Li stared at Katalia in surprise and disbelief. "You can't be serious..."  
"Do I not look serious?" Katalia demanded, her eyes flashing with anger. The edge of Li's sword pressed tighter against his throat. "I want you to be mine, completely mine."  
If Li could have, he would have laughed. But as it was, the sword against his throat hampered anything but the barest of words. "Well, you want something unnattainable, then." Li said coldly, hate clear in his eyes.  
Katalia smiled thinly, making Li uncomfortable and nervous. "Oh, don't be so cocky, Li Showron. I ~always~ get what I want. Always. And this time's no different. You'll be mine. Of course you will. Or else I'll destroy your little lover. Sakura, isn't it?"  
Li's blood ran cold and his heart froze in mid-beat. Katalia laughed again, softer and more triumphantly than before.  
"Ah, yes. That scares you, doesn't it? And you know, Li, I'm a Dark construct. And Dark constructs are soul-destroyers. If your little princess dies by my hand, it's for good and all time. She won't be reborn again for you to find. Oh, no. She'll be scattered across the greatness of the cosmos if I kill her. And you don't want that, do you?"  
Li couldn't have answered if he'd wanted to. There was nothing he could do now to stop Katalia if she wished to harm Sakura.  
Katalia smiled evilly. "So I thought. So, Li Showron. Let's get to know each other a little better, shall we?"  
  
"Sakura!!" Kero cried, flapping his wings faster to catch up to his Mistress, Sage and Celos.  
"Kero!" Sakura cried, turning to look at the hurrying Guardian. "Li's been taken!"  
"What?!?!?" Kero demanded, his eyes blazing. "By who?!?"  
"Katalia! And Aku's escaped!" Sage called back as the wind wipped their hair about. "But Celos Senses Powers to the east, and we think they may be somewhere in that direction!"  
"We have to hurry!!" Kero bellowed, speeding past a surprised Celos.  
"Kero?!?" Sakura called.  
Kero thought desperately. I never got a chance to reconcile with him!!  
  
"I can Sense Sage and Sakura!! And Li, too!" Saby called back over her shoulder to her Mistress, who leaned close to Saby's neck for support.  
"Are they heading towards the east as well?" Madison called, hoping Saby had heard her.  
Saby nodded deeply. "Everyone's converging!!"  
  
Patience stumbled and fell to land on a long, plate-like rock, bruising and scraping her arms and legs as she fell. "Aku?"  
Aku appeared beside her, standing more cool and calm than he felt. Patience pushed herself up on battered arms, looking about her in confusion.  
They were in a small clearing, circled with dark, forbidding pine trees. The large rock she lay on was fully large enough to hold two people, and the grass in the small hollow was brown and sere, as if it had died in a fire.  
"What's going on?!?" Patience demanded worriedly.  
Aku looked down at her for a moment, studying her.   
"The Dark magickers Sakura and Li are trying to steal you away, Patience," Aku said smoothly as he stepped closer, his hand inching up into the hidden dagger in his sleeve. It was a full moon tonight; perfect conditions for a powerful sacrifice. "We have to hide here from them."  
"But Madison and Nadissa didn't seem at all evil," Patience whispered, looking into the darkness in puzzlement.  
Aku quickly curbed her wandering thoughts. "It was all a mere act, a ploy to convince you to come quietly, without a fight. They know you're too strong for them if it comes down to a fight. So they wanted to take you easily, without any harm befalling them." Only a few more steps and a few muttered words, and Aku would have his chance.  
"Well, look at this, dear!" A familiar, icy voice taunted, startling Aku just as his hand enclosed around the dagger's hilt. Spinning about with flashing, wrathful eyes, Aku stared contemptuously at the voice's owner.  
"You traitor, Katalia!" Aku spat out angrily as she stepped into the moonlight, dragging someone behind her at sword-point.  
"Isn't this just our luck, dear?" Katalia said to her captive. "This is just a regular little get-together, isn't it?"  
Aku's eyes widened in surprise as he saw and recognized the bound captive. Katalia noticed the surprise and laughed.  
"You didn't think I was strong enough to take care of one of the Japanese magickers, Aku?" Katalia taunted as she dragged Li forward. "It seems you were sadly mistaken about me on many subjects."  
"Katalia," Aku began in a softer, fawning voice as he took a small step forward. "I never doubted you for one moment."  
Katalia snorted in a very unlady-like way. "Shove it, Aku! You only want the sorcerer."  
Aku's eyes slitted as he gritted his teeth. He knew the precise spot to strike with magic to dissolve Katalia's body, but at the moment it was blocked by the bound Li, and Aku wanted Li alive. Only if he could properly perform the sacrifice ceremony could he collect Li's magic at the time of his death.  
"Too bad, Aku," Katalia said softly, her eyes narrowing wickedly. "I know what you want to do to Li. And he's mine, to use as ~I~ please, instead of you using me the way ~you~ please!"  
Patience slowly stood on the rock platform. "You," she hissed angrily, eyes slitted as she glared at the helpless Li. "Aku, let me kill him!!"  
"Patience, he's poisoned your mind!" Li cried, struggling with his bonds. "Don't believe him!!"  
"Shut up!" Katalia said angrily, jerking Li back violently and pricking his chin with his sword.  
Helplessness welled up inside Li. He knew what this dying, diseased hollow was. A sacrificial altar. And Patience stood on the very altar itself. Aku was going to kill the deluded girl, and there was nothing Li could do, not bound and threatened with his own sword.  
  
  
Sakura gasped and tightened her hold on Celos. "Li!"  
"What?" Sage asked, looking over his shoulder as Celos finally caught up to the speeding Kero.  
"Li and Patience need help!! Hurry!"  
  
"There it is!!" Nadissa called, pointing down at the far-below ground.  
"Hide your power, Mistress!" Saby advised before she tucked her wings close and spiralled into a dive. "We've no need to warn them of our approach!"  
Madison bit back the urge to scream as the wind and clouds wipped past their eyes.  
  
Aku bit back a strangled curse as he jumped back. A glowing gold Saby crashed into a heavy landing, her tail wipping about dangerously. Meilin and Madison were thrown to the ground; only Nadissa managed to remain on Saby's back.  
Katalia barely managed to slip out of sight, dragging Li with her.  
Aku was rendered motionless for a moment in surprise, allowing Nadissa to dismount safely. But then he began to think again, and smiled with wicked delight.  
This was no powerful sorceress or sorcerer from Japan; this was a mere little girl with little magic to call her own.  
Nadissa struggled to breathe as Saby put her own body between her Mistress and Aku.   
Patience struggled to back away, her eyes wide in shock and terror at the sight of Saby. But to her surprise, she found she couldn't move.  
She'd been locked inside a Shield.  
"Aku!!" Patience screamed, battering at the Shield. This demon-cat must surely be strong enough to break through this mere Shield; why wouldn't Aku let her run to safety?!?  
"I've got control of this, Patience," Aku said calmly and cooly, a small smile creeping onto his face. "Don't worry."  
"Madison!" Meilin whispered urgently, shaking the girl slightly by the shoulder. "Wake up!"  
"What's going on?" Madison mumbled as she sat and reached for her undamaged camera, which had rolled a few feet away.  
"Nadissa's on her own against the Dark magicker, for one!!" Meilin whispered. "But you have to stay here, where it's at least somewhat safe."  
"What about you?!?" Madison asked as Meilin crouched and turned.  
"I saw someone that needs me," Meilin said, cold hatred creeping into her voice. I may not have magic, and she may have slipped into the shadows, but not even a bitch of a mage-construct can kidnap one of ~my~ family!!  
  
Li stumbled as Katalia pushed him onwards, his sword-point pressed between his shoulder-blades.  
"Get up!!" Katalia ordered irratably. "I'm not wasting any time around here!"  
"You know, Katalia," Li managed to whisper out as he caught his breath and stood. "No matter how far you run or what you do, you'll be followed."  
Katalia scoffed at this. "Followed? With you as a hostage?"  
"Of course," Li said. "Sakura and the other's will follow you. They'll follow my magic."  
Katalia smiled. "Then I'll just threaten you and get them to surrender, then destroy them. It's as simple as that. You and your friends are such an honorable group, you'd never let one of your own die."  
Li gritted his teeth, knowing how terribly right Katalia was.  
"Now get go-" Katalia began, prodding him with his sword.  
But Katalia was interrupted as someone tackled her.  
Meilin flipped from the ground and readied herself, glaring down at the surprised Katalia. Pushing herself up on a white arm, Katalia growled at the young woman as she wiped a hand across her mouth. Green blood streaked the white, delicate-fingered hand, further enraging Katalia.  
"You, little bitch," Katalia whispered as she flipped to her own feet. "Will pay for that in blood!!"  
Katalia dove at Meilin, but the girl was more than ready for her. Flipping back, Meilin swung about and landed a kick on the woman-construct's side. Katalia rolled to the side, wincing as she pulled herself up onto her knees.  
Looking up at the prepared Meilin with a look full of fury and hate, Katalia raised a single hand. "Why waste time on such a small, insignificant thing as yourself? I can easily cut you down with my magic."  
A slight flicker of fear flashed through Meilin's eyes, but she overcame it quickly.   
"Meilin might not have any magic," Li said quietly. Katalia spun about with wide, fearful eyes as she took in the unbound, furious Li. "But I certainly do."  
Katalia's scream was cut off by the blast of lightning.  
  
Nadissa gulped and stared at Aku.   
"Girl, I'll give you three choices," Aku began in a reasonable voice, looking as benign and kind as a saint. "One, you join with me. I can give you power beyond your imaginings, you know." Aku paused for a moment, and sighed when he saw there was little chance of Nadissa agreeing to choice one. "Two, you surrender now, and I might let you live. You're of little power and consequence to me. Or three, you continue this futile stand, and I'll destroy you." Aku's voice was so soft and cheerful, he could have been speaking of going on a picnic.  
Nadissa gulped, clutching at her strand of bronze worry-beads.   
Saby replied mindly as she growled outwardly at an unruffled Aku. I can at least keep him busy long enough for Sakura and the others to arrive.  
Nadissa whispered worriedly as she stepped back, giving Saby more room.  
"Pathetic," Aku murmured as Saby leapt towards him, fangs and claws glinting brightly in the moonlight.  
Patience screamed as the two crashed together in a flash of black and gold light.  
  
"There!!" Sakura cried, pointing towards the bright flash of light pusling from the woods. "Hurry, Celos!!!"  
Saby limply collapsed to the forest floor, pale and drained in color.  
"SABY!!!!" Nadissa screamed in pain, falling to her knees with tears in her eyes.  
"That damn bastard!!" Sage growled angrily as Celos landed. Sakura stumbled from the Guardian's back, hugging the sobbing Nadissa in comfort.  
"Where's Li, Nadissa?" Sakura begged. Nadissa couldn't answer, too wracked with pain.  
Aku took a step back, debating on whether or not he should teleport. He could cut his losses now and leave, find more Powers...  
But that thought galled him. He was going to have the three Powers, and he was going to have them now!  
"My father," Nadissa whispered out through her sobs. "He killed... Saby..."  
"AKU!!!" Kero roared, a stream of fire erupting from his mouth. Aku's hands raised as a black Shield surrounded him protectively. Aku watched with a pleased expression as the flames licked and slid from the Shield, leaving him untouched or harmed.  
Just then, Li and Meilin stumbled from the shadows, Meilin looking quite shaken and Li quite furious.  
Kero's flames had begun to disappear when an idea sprang into Aku's agile brain. He quickly gathered the magic given off by Kero's flames, shaping and warping it into his own brand of magic.  
Aku thought with a grin.   
Sakura had just lurched to her feet and ran to Li in relief when a large ball of black magic erupted from Aku. But to the onlooking magickers, it seemed as if his aim was off, for the ball sped into the shadows, away from anyone.  
But then the scream rang out, as well as a bright flash of white light.  
"MADISON!!" Sakura screamed, falling weakly to her knees.  
  
Shawn clutched his ringing head in his hands, doubled over in clutching pain. It felt as though his soul was being ripped in two-  
"Shawn!!" Hope cried, rushing to his side. "What's the matter?!?"  
"Madison," Shawn whispered weakly as he fell into the blackness of unconsciousness.  
  
"No!" Meilin gasped, stumbling towards the source of the still pulsing bright light. "She can't be...."  
Aku had begun laughing in triumph, but froze in mid-laugh when the light increased in strength.   
A form stood silhouetted in the bright white light, a tall girl with her black-grey hair pulled back in a long braid. As the light died away, Sakura and the others stared in numbed shock.  
Kanthel Otion stood before the largest pine tree, a large glowing blue globe of light resting gently in her hands. I believe that you were intending to kill Madison with this magic, Aku Darkness. Kanthel said softly solemn with a bell-like mind-voice. {A'sN: Kanthel Otion is a past life of Madison's, for all of you out there that haven't read SIP2, or weren't paying attention in the earlier chaps.}  
"You're not..." Aku trailed off in disbelief, eyes wide and mouth hanging open.   
Kanthel's expression of peaceful serenity didn't waver an bit as she turned and laid sad, sorrowful eyes on the still, quiet form of brave Saby.   
The bright light left the blue glass globe and darted over elusively to Saby's limp form. With a flash, the light sank into the cheetah Guardian. As the light died away, the glass globe Kanthel held disappeared as well. Kanthel turned her always-sad, solemn eyes on Sakura.  
Kanthel whispered as she was engulfed with a bright blue mist. As the mist faded away, a drained, weakened Madison collapsed to the forest floor.  
"Mistress Nadissa...."   
Nadissa looked up from her tears, joy shining in her eyes. "Saby!!!"   
The Guardian smiled benignly, a warm friendly smile. "Did you really expect me to leave you so soon?"  
"This is so sweet I'm getting cavities," Aku snarled angrily as Kero landed beside Saby, relief clear on his shaggy features. "Isn't this a happy reunion?" {A'sN: I know that practically every bad guy will someday say that so-cliche line, so I felt it was my duty to continue the tradition. *(^-^)*}  
Sakura turned a glare on Aku, calling upon the Sword Card as she did so. "You damn bastard..."  
"Come here, little girl!" Aku demanded quickly in a not-asking tone, snapping his fingers. Nadissa's eyes blanked as she stood stiffly, walking towards Aku mechanically.  
"Nadissa!" Meilin cried, trying to grab her arm as she passed. But Nadissa merely jerked her arm from Meilin's grasp with a surprising amount of strength and continued onwards until she had reached Aku's side.  
Smirking in a pleased way, Aku drew his sacrificial dagger and pressed it meaningfully against Nadissa's throat. "You try to move even an inch, and her blood will flow."  
Sakura gritted her teeth in helplessness.   
"Let Nadissa and Patience go, Uncle!" Sage demanded angrily, his ball of red fire-magic sparking with his fury.  
Nadissa's eyes cleared at Sage's voice. They widened in terror as she struggled to scream at the feel on the cold blade against her neck.  
Patience stood watching with a confused look, her hands clutching her head. Memories flashed through her head, memories of days she spent laughing with Sakura and Li and the others, as they taught her how to master her magic. She remembered how upset and worried they'd been for her, Sage, and Hope when the news of a nearby Dark magicker and his contructs reached them. She remembered how wonderful it felt when she and Sage had first kissed....  
Patience demanded helplessly as she slid to the stone in a confused lump.  
Li inwardly cursed himself. I should have attacked when I had the chance! We waited too long, and now it looks like we're stalemated!  
Sage, furious over his helplessness, waved a hand as he muttered a magic incantation.  
"What did you do?!?" Aku demanded angrily, pressing the dagger tighter against Nadissa's throat. The sixteen-year-old whimpered in pain as a thin line of red appeared across her neck.  
Sage kept his face carefully bland, knowing if he looked too triumphant Aku might kill Nadissa in his anger. "I didn't do anything."  
"You did," Aku muttered with slitted eyes, trying to pinpoint what he had done.  
Sakura chanced mind-speaking, hoping Sage could hear her.  
I threw a Shield around the clearing. If Aku tries to teleport away to safety, he'll be unable to.  
Sakura sighed ever so slightly in feeble relief.   
"Father, don't do this!" Nadissa whispered out, tears in her eyes. "Don't do this!"  
Aku looked down at Nadissa in contempt. "Don't call me father, you pathetic weakling. You're not strong or worthy enough to be my daughter."  
The tears in Nadissa's eyes increased. "You ~are~ my father, no matter what you say or think."  
Sakura thought in stunned surprise. Nadissa had only told Hope of her discovery, and Sakura and the others were as shocked as could be.  
Tears trickled down Nadissa's cheeks. I can't let the others suffer because of me. And I know they will; Aku will use me against them.  
As this revelation formed in Nadissa's mind, she knew what she had to do.  
Nadissa whispered, more tears dripping from her grey-green eyes.  
Saby asked worriedly. Nadissa's mind-voice was so sad and determined....  
I love you. Tell Leo and Mom that I'm sorry, Nadissa whispered, her eyes meeting her beloved Guardian's.  
Saby's eyes widened in horror as she realized what her Mistress was about to do.  
Saby screamed mindly.  
Nadissa stepped back, pushing Aku as she did so, taking him by surprise as he stumbled backwards.  
The dagger slipped.  
"NADISSA!!!!!!" Sakura screamed as she watched the young girl collapse limply to the ground, her blood spilling to stain the dark, deadened grass.  
Aku stared down at the limp body, then at the blood-stained dagger he held in his hand.   
A strange feeling assaulted Aku. A feeling he had never felt before.  
Guilt.  
Aku's eyes widened in horror.   
Memories, one after another, painfully filled his mind. Memories he'd forgotten, or memories that had been taken away from him by his own greed and hatred. Memories of a brother and sister-in-law, memories of meeting a young, vibrant woman named Cecile and falling in love, memories of holding his first child, a son. Memories of rushing his wife to the hospital for the birth of his second child, the daughter he had just killed.  
And the memory of the Call. The Call that pulled him towards magic- black, Dark magic. The Call that had warped his mind and heart, had changed him forever.  
The Call of Evil.  
Sobs of pain filled the air as Meilin and Hope collapsed to their knees. Sage, Sakura, and Li, wracked with pain, charged towards the benumbed Aku. The Dark magicker watched them approach as if in slow-motion, as if he were watching from afar.  
And then he knew what he had to do.  
The sacrificial dagger slipped from his numbed, deadened hand, falling to the ground in a sparkle of red drops. Aku stood with spread arms, waiting for the mercy of Death.  
Sage's ball of magic struck Aku moments after the Sword Card and Li's sword had pierced his chest.  
An intense flash of grey light blinded everyone within the clearing as Aku died, dissolving in a mist of magic. Sakura and Li stumbled back, shielding their eyes with their arms. Sage fell backwards, his heart skipping a beat as he held his breath.  
As the light blinded Patience's eyes, it cleared her mind and heart. For the first time in days, she was ~herself~.  
Sakura slowly lowered her arms as the light faded away.  
A misty figure, pale grey in pallor, knelt beside the fallen Nadissa. It looked so much like Aku, and yet very different. The man reached out a gentle hand towards the girl's body, tears in his transparent eyes.  
"I'm so sorry... daughter." Antony Davisk whispered as he faded into nothingness.  
Sage pushed himself to his feet as Patience stumbled forward, tears in her eyes, hair and dress unkempt. "Sage!!!"  
"Patience!!" Sage cried gratefully in relief as he caught her in his arms, holding her close. Patience clutched Sage tightly, sobbing softly.  
Saby wailed her pain to the setting moon, Kero and Celos joining in her howl of lament.  
Meilin knelt beside the reawakening Madison, helping her to her feet as she wiped the tears from her eyes.  
Sakura weakly dropped the Sword Card and fell into Li's arms, tears running down her face.  
"He was sorry in the end, Li," Sakura whispered as she buried her face in his chest. "He was sorry."  
Li nodded, choked with tears and unable to speak for a long moment. "Nadissa sacrificed herself for us, Sakura."  
Tears fell to mingle with Nadissa's blood as the last of the stars faded in the light of the rising sun.  
  
Nadissa's funeral was short and simple, but those that attended felt as if it went on forever.  
Cecile and Leo stood before Nadissa's closed casket, Leo's arms around Mrs. Davisk for support as she sobbed bitterly. Hope stood beside Leo, her head resting gently on his shoulder, an arm looped through his. Patience sniffed slightly, her hand clutched in a saddened Sage's. Li and Sakura stood to the back with Meilin, Julian, Shawn, and Madison. Sakura and Madison fought back tears as Shawn and Li tried vainly to comfort them. Julian and Meilin were stolidly remaining composed, although at times it was a struggle. Jade and Josuah offered heart-felt condolences to Cecile and Leo, remorseful and sympathetic. Kero, Celos, and Saby were also present, but currently hidden. Saby couldn't bear to look at her Mistress lying in a coffin, and was in Sakura's bag with Celos and Kero, who tried futilely to comfort her.  
"She gave up so much to make sure the rest of us survived," Li whispered.  
Patience bit her lip to fight back more tears. "Sage, she's dead because of me."  
"She's dead because of Aku, Patience," Sage murmured softly. "It wasn't your fault that you were kidnapped and brainwashed. And every single one of us knew we ran the risk of dying when we went to rescue you. But everyone went anyway."  
Patience nodded ever so slightly. "But I can't help but feel responsible."  
"We all feel responsible and guilty, Patience," Hope said, her voice harsh with her raw throat. "But we shouldn't be sad because Nadissa's dead. We should be happy that the rest of us are alive, and because she was a good enough friend and person that she was willing to sacrifice herself for others. She wouldn't want us to spend the rest of our lives feeling guilty."  
Patience nodded with a rare smile as a ray of sun broke through the slate-grey clouds. "You're right, Hope. We should be thankful that we're still alive, and that we knew Nadissa."  
Leo hugged Hope. "You're both right. And Hope, Saby needs a new Mistress. And I know Nadissa would have wanted you to take care of her."  
I would be glad to have you as my Mistress, Hope, Saby whispered mindly.   
Hope was surprised by both the information of having created Saby, and the fact that Saby was willing to have her as her Mistress.   
Saby whispered.   
  
  
Boo hoo! ToT {Tears streaming down face.} How sad! ToT Poor Nadissa! ToT But, we always have the comfort that she'll be reborn again someday {hint, hint, hint}. Did y'all like this chap? Well, don't get too depressed just yet. There's one more to go, and I know it'll cheer y'all up! 


	17. Chapter Seventeen: Wedding Bells Ring, C...

You Set Me Free, You Give My Heart Wings  
  
Part Three (Contin.): The Ending  
  
I know the last chap was really sad {at least, it should have been}, but this chap will absolutely, positively be much happier!!!  
  
So let's get going!  
  
{A'sN: Before we get started, I've got a WARNING. WARNING: If you can't stand mush, sap, and overall beyond sugary-sweet romance, DO NOT read this last chapter. I completely stepped over the boundaries of restraint and shame in this. It's so sappy, it brings tears of laughter to your eyes. It's THAT sappy!}  
  
{Disclaimer}  
  
I don't own the CCS characters, but I do own all of the others, as well as the town of Rocky Wood. Please don't steal any of my characters.  
  
Thank you. {Bows graciously}  
  
Chapter Seventeen: Wedding Bells Ring, Children Scream....  
  
It had been almost a year since the death of Nadissa Davisk, and things had once again resumed their normal pace.  
  
Er, at least ~some~ things had resumed their normal pace....  
  
"MADISON?!?!?!" Sakura screamed, banging on the door to the bathroom. "HURRY UP!!!! MY DATE WITH LI IS IN AN HOUR!!!!"  
  
"WAIT A FUCKING MINUTE, SAKURA!!! Madison screamed back.  
  
Sakura sighed and leaned against the wall beside the bathroom. Madison's average minutes lasted half an hour at the least.  
  
The letter laying beside the tv caught Sakura's eye. I've nothing else to do, Sakura thought with a sigh as she grabbed the letter and began rereading it.  
  
'Dear Sakura, Madison, Li and Shawn,  
  
Greetings from America! How are things going in Japan? Good? Well, we've got great news! Monumental news! Terrific, stupendous, wonderful, splenderific- Hope says I should just get to the point.  
  
My news first, seeing as how I'm the one writing this letter. And no Hope, it is too fair. Sage proposed last night! Yep, you heard me right! Hope says it was about time and that she knew it was going to happen, anyway, but who cares about what she thinks? We don't have a date set yet, but as soon as we decide on one, all of you are of course going to be on the guest list! Celos is doing well, and he's been teaching me how to create my own Guardian Creature. I hope to have her done in a bit.  
  
Okay, Hope! God, you're practically tearing the pencil out of my hand! Hope's news is decent, too, I guess. Okay, fine, it's great. Quit pulling my hair, you evil, sadistic Mop. Leo proposed last night, too. Isn't that a strange coincidence? Both of them proposing on the same night? Makes me think they had this all plotted out... Saby is doing better, and she and Hope get along splendidly. Cecile is doing good, and so is Mammy and Pappy.  
  
Madison, when is your wedding date set? Maybe we could work something out so our weddings coincide with one another? And Sakura, just ~WHEN~ is Li going to propose? Mop and I think he's spending way too much time beating around the bush. How's Meilin? And Kero and Yue/Julian?  
  
Please RSVP ASAP! We can't wait to hear from you guys!  
  
Love,  
  
Patience and Hope.'  
  
Sakura smiled as she refolded the letter. It was about time those two asked.  
  
Madison swung the door open to the bathroom and fixed Sakura with a frosty glare. "You may go in now, Your Highness."  
  
"Why thank you, Slave Woman," Sakura said loftily as she swept past Madison and slammed the door before she had a chance to retort.  
  
  
  
"Just where are we going, Li?" Sakura asked as they walked hand in hand through the park.  
  
"To our own private restaurant," Li said with a grin.  
  
Sakura arched an eyebrow, but Li didn't care to elaborate.  
  
It wasn't until they had reached the giant pond in the middle of the park that Sakura discovered where their restaurant was.  
  
"This is our restaurant?!?" Sakura asked with a laugh as Li bowed and gestured towards the rowboat tied to the dock. A large picnic basket was carefully stowed in the bow, and Li looked fit to burst with laughter.  
  
"Right this way, mademoiselle," Li said gentlemanly. Sakura laughed and allowed him to help her into the boat. Li climbed in and untied the mooring rope, and they were soon drifting on their way.  
  
"Well, it ~is~ peaceful, I'll give you that," Sakura said as seriously as she could while keeping back a smile. "And the service isn't that shabby either."  
  
Li laughed and handed her a glass of cider. "Bon appetit!"  
  
An hour later, the sandwiches and cider had disappeared, and Sakura lay lazily with her hands dangling into the water.  
  
She looked up at the peaceful, bright sunlight that fell to dapple the crystal clear water. She sighed, content. Today was the anniversary of the day she had Sensed the three new Powers in America. Hard to believe so much had happened in only a year. She sighed again, counting her blessings.  
  
She was still alive, and still had Li and Madison and Shawn. She'd made five new friends in America, had lost one, and had met two new Guardians. Shawn had proposed to Madison, Sage and Leo had proposed to Patience and Hope less than a week ago, and the threat of a Dark magicker and his constructs were gone. Madison's magic had been awakened, and despite the sorrow of losing Nadissa, life was still good and worth living.  
  
Sakura opened an eye and looked over at Li, who stared out across the water absently, apparently deep in thought. Her heart skipped a beat as a wind danced overhead, ruffling Li's dark brown hair. The light reflected from the pond glinted in his deep amber eyes, and he looked so comfortable and content. Sakura knew that for a few months after Nadissa had died, she and Li had had nightmares nearly every night. But the horrors of the nightmares slowly dulled as time went by, and now the only dreams she had of young Nadissa were comforting and happy.  
  
Sakura smiled ever so softly. She and Li had grown so much over the past eleven years. They had gone from being open enemies and rivals, to being partners, then a couple, and now they were something so much more. Sakura felt right when she was with Li, and she ached when they were apart. They were so much closer than a couple; they were soulmates, intertwined with one another.  
  
Another, wider smile graced Sakura's face. She as an individual had grown so much, as well. She had gone from being a naive, sometimes clutzy and ditzy girl, into being a thoughtful, serious young woman. She knew grief and sorrow, but she knew happiness and joy, as well. She had felt and conquered guilt and remorse, and had been surprised nearly every day of her life.  
  
But she was still alive through it all- alive and strong. And she thanked God every day for that.  
  
Li looked over at Sakura as she sighed again, so softly it was barely audible, then looked back out at the peaceful water. Li couldn't help but smile and feel grateful. Here he was, together with a beautiful, kind- hearted woman, on one of the most beautiful, uplifting days of his life. {A'sN: God, is sap flowing out of my ears, or what? Who actually thinks this stuff in real life? Where ~DO~ I get this crap?}  
  
He couldn't believe that when he had first met Sakura so many years ago that he had thought her weak and ineffectual. He couldn't believe that he had thought her unworthy of magic and the Clow Cards. She was more powerful than any magicker, living or dead, and she was ~his~, his love, his lover, his friend, his soulmate. She'd been with him through everything; betrayal, grief, happiness, humor; she had always been there for him, and he for her.  
  
Li didn't know why he was so blessed, but he was thankful and grateful that God had allowed this angel to love him, and accept his own love in return.  
  
Sakura looked up as Li sat with a smile, his warm amber eyes glowing. "Sakura?"  
  
"Li?" Sakura asked as she sat, her face the picture of innocent curiosity.  
  
Li's smile widened. Now was the right time. He hadn't the slightest fear she would say no, he had no apprehensions or second thoughts. He loved her too much to be unsure or worried.  
  
"I think it's about time I asked you something," Li said softly, pulling the small box from his pocket. {A'sN: WE ~ALL~ THINK IT'S ABOUT FUCKIN' TIME!!!}  
  
Sakura's eyes widened at the sight of the box, but so did her smile. Her heart skipped several beats, making her feel light-headed and giddy. She held her breath for fear she might ruin the moment somehow.  
  
"Sakura, will you do me the honor of becoming Mrs. Li Showron?" Li said softly, opening the box and handing it gently to her.  
  
Tears of happiness brimmed in Sakura's vibrant emerald eyes as she carefully pulled the silver band from the box. A small, pale pink ruby cut in the shape of a cherry blossom sparkled in the sunlight as Sakura slipped it on her finger.  
  
Sakura looked into Li's eyes, her love clear in her smile. "Did you even need to ask? You knew my answer, Li!"  
  
The kiss they shared beneath the winking sun was one of happiness fulfilled.  
  
  
  
Four bouquets soared through the air, landing in an eager mob of unmarried women. A fight broke out over Hope's bouquet of white irises, but was quickly resolved as Meilin shoved the other woman aside into a nearby table.  
  
Madison laughed at the triumphant look on Meilin's face. "Who do you think she's plotting to snare?"  
  
Sakura giggled as Meilin cast a covert glance over at Julian. "I know who she's thinking of, but I don't think he has any idea! Or that he's going to go along with her plans!"  
  
"Sakura, we need your help!" Cecile panted as she rushed up, her violet dress rumpled.  
  
"What's the matter?" Sakura asked.  
  
"Kero, Celos, and Saby just ate half of the refreshment table!!  
  
Literally!!" Cecile gasped helplessly. "And they won't listen to a word I say!"  
  
Sakura sighed wearily. "I'll take care of them."  
  
Li and Shawn watched as Sakura stomped off, her long white train trailing off behind her. "You know, I actually feel sorry for the stuffed animals when Sakura gets her hands on them," Li said nonchalantly. He and Sage exchanged glances and smiled.  
  
"Then again, maybe I don't." Li said with a grin.  
  
"Li, could you introduce me to some of these people?" Aiden asked as he stumbled through the crowd, breathless. "Eight different families in the same place is more than confusing, it's dangerous! I've already been asked out on four different dates!"  
  
Li smiled at the overwhelmed expression on Aiden's face. "Sure, Dad!"  
  
Aiden smiled and followed Li as he maneuvered through the crowded people. "I'll find Jade and Josuah first. I think you'd like them." Li suggested.  
  
"Jade!!" Li called as he spotted the black-haired woman. Jade, dressed in a Chinese kimono the color of her namesake, turned and smiled, waving at Li as he and Aiden pushed their way through the crowd.  
  
  
  
"Hi, Li!" Jade said with a smile. "And who's this?"  
  
"Jade, this is Aiden, Sakura's father. Aiden, this is Jade, Patience and Hope's mother." Li said by way of introduction.  
  
Jade shook Aiden's hand with a puzzled frown creasing her brow. "You know, Mr. Avalon, you look so like my husband it's startling."  
  
"Really?" Aiden asked, surprised. "And here I thought I was one of a kind."  
  
Jade laughed as she sipped at her champagne. "You're more like Josuah than I thought. Oh, and here he comes!"  
  
"Hello, Li; dear," Josuah called cheerfully.  
  
"Josuah, this is Sakura's father, Aiden." Li said as Aiden held out his hand. The two locked eyes and shook hands slowly, puzzled looks crossing over their faces. Li was struck head-on by their alikenesses. In fact, the only differences between the two were their ages, and, on Josuah's part, more grey hairs and wrinkles.  
  
"Have we met somewhere before?" Aiden asked in a puzzled voice, his brow furrowed in concentration as he tried to catch an elusive memory.  
  
"I'm really not sure," Josuah replied in the same puzzled voice.  
  
"There you are, Li!!" Meilin gasped as she squeezed past two overweight aunts. "Sakura couldn't find you anywhere! She wanted me to tell you that the first dance'll be starting in a few minutes!"  
  
"Well, sorry, but it looks like I've got to go!" Li said cheerfully, hurrying off after Meilin, leaving Aiden, Josuah and Jade clustered around one of the refreshment tables.  
  
"There you are, silly!" Sakura said fondly as Li finally emerged from the crowd. She grabbed his hand in hers with a face-splitting smile, then dragged him off to the dance floor.  
  
"You know, your dad and Josuah look so alike it's almost frightening," Li commented absently as they took their places on the dance floor, just before the first song began.  
  
Sakura frowned. "Do you remember right before we left the night Nadissa died? When Josuah said I reminded him of Nadeshiko, my mom? And didn't he say that Nadeshiko was his brother's wife?"  
  
Li smiled and shrugged. "You know, Sakura, I've had enough of obscure family members popping up everywhere. Sage and Shawn being brothers, Aku being their uncle, and Aku being Nadissa's and Leo's father is plenty enough for me to handle. I don't know how I'll take it if it turns out your father and Josuah are brothers."  
  
Sakura smiled. "That would mean Patience and Hope are my cousins!"  
  
Li sighed with a shake of his head. "Let's think about other things, Sakura."  
  
"Like our honeymoon tonight?" Sakura whispered in a sly, soft voice. Li couldn't help but blush crimson.  
  
Just then, the lights darkened and the first song began.  
  
~Can't you see?  
  
There's a feeling that's come over me.  
  
Close my eyes.  
  
You're the only one that leaves me,  
  
Completely breathless.  
  
No need to wonder why,  
  
Sometimes a gift like this you can't deny!  
  
'Cause I wanted to fly,  
  
So you gave me your wings.  
  
And time held its breath so I could see,  
  
Yeah,  
  
And you set me free.  
  
There's a will,  
  
There's a way.  
  
Sometimes words just can't explain.  
  
This is real,  
  
I'm afraid.  
  
I guess this time there's just no hiding,  
  
Fighting,  
  
You make me restless.  
  
You're in my heart,  
  
The only light that shines  
  
There in the dark.  
  
'Cause I wanted to fly,  
  
So you gave me your wings.  
  
And time held its breath so I could see,  
  
Yeah,  
  
And you set me free.  
  
When I was alone,  
  
You came around.  
  
When I was down,  
  
You pulled me through.  
  
And there's nothing that  
  
I wouldn't do for you.  
  
'Cause I wanted to fly,  
  
So you gave me your wings,  
  
And time held its breath so I could see,  
  
Yeah.  
  
And you set me free.~  
  
Sakura smiled as the song came to a close. "Li, I think I'm the luckiest woman in the world."  
  
Li smiled. "I'd bet money that Madison, Hope, and Patience are all thinking that very same thought right now, too. Difference of opinion, huh?"  
  
Sakura smiled and drew Li into a long, breathless kiss.  
  
"For Christ's Sake!" A rude voice called out from among the guests. "Wait till tonight if you have to do that! Get a room!"  
  
"Shut up, Tori!" Sakura called sweetly when she finally pulled away. "Even with this wedding dress on, I'm willing to beat the crap out of you!"  
  
Tori laughed. "And since when could you do that?"  
  
"Since her father decided to take a more active part in her life!" Aiden said cheerfully as he clapped Tori energetically on the back, making his son stumble, sipping from a champagne glass. "I'll hold you down and let Sakura beat the tar out of you if I have to, son!"  
  
A round of laughter greeted this cheerfully-made remark.  
  
Sakura laughed. "Yeah, and Dad's more than willing to do so, Tori, so keep your giant mouth shut!"  
  
Tori skulked for a moment before disappearing in search of more champagne and better company.  
  
"Care to finish that interrupted kiss?" Li asked softly.  
  
Sakura smiled as he drew her into his arms. "And since when have I refused such a gracious offer?"  
  
  
  
"Leo?" Hope asked sweetly as they danced together on the dance floor.  
  
"Hmm?" Leo asked lazily.  
  
"How many kids do you think we should have?"  
  
If Leo had been holding anything, he would have dropped it. "Hope?!?!"  
  
Hope smiled innocently at his stunned expression. "Well?"  
  
"How many could you possibly want?!?" Leo asked in shocked disbelief.  
  
"Oh, I don't know!" Hope said cheerfully. "Three or four at least! It'd be nice to have a big family. And I think we should have girls! Yep, and I really like the names Charity and Cherish. Do you like those names, dear?"  
  
Leo's tongue wouldn't work until the song had finally come to an end.  
  
  
  
"Sage?" Patience whispered, holding him close as they danced.  
  
"Patience?" Sage replied with a smile.  
  
"I dreamt of Nadissa last night." Patience whispered this, but there was no sorrow in her voice or eyes. Only comfort and peace of mind.  
  
"What happened?" Sage asked curiously.  
  
"She wished me luck for the wedding, and said she hoped I could keep you in line." Patience smiled. "She asked how Saby and the others were doing, and told me she was having a great time Upstairs. And she asked me a favor."  
  
"A favor?" Sage echoed.  
  
Patience nodded slightly. "She asked if we'd name our first daughter after her."  
  
Sage smiled. "What did you tell her?"  
  
Patience smiled. "I told her of course we would. And I promised we'd tell her all about her namesake when she was old enough to learn her magic. Nadissa assured me that our children would have magic."  
  
Sage's smile widened. "That's good to know she's at peace."  
  
Patience nodded slightly. "She looked so happy, Sage, she fairly glowed. Dressed all in bronze with the prettiest smile imaginable on her face. And when she turned to leave, she said something to me."  
  
"What?" Sage asked curiously as the song began to end.  
  
" 'Lines begun, tangled then unwound, meet again, in the end.' " Patience said softly. "Pretty sounding isn't it?"  
  
Sage nodded with a smile. "Life begun, never ends, all lives meeting again, in the end."  
  
  
  
~You Set Me Free, You Give My Heart Wings~  
  
  
  
  
  
That's it!! That's the end!! How was it? Did you like it?  
  
Please hit me back with all of your comments, flames, raves, ideas, suggestions, corrections, and please REVIEW!! Check out my other fics, and tell me if any of you want a sequel!  
  
{The song mentioned was You Set Me Free, by Michelle Branch, from her CD the Spirit Room.}  
  
Special Thanx go out to: Max Aireedhel who's always there for me, Psycho Chris Wright who's always made me laugh and think about life and heaven, Ms. Heaven Sinic my partner and one of my best buds who always gives me her opinions and suggestions, Ameoba Boy for being the brunt of many of my jokes, taking none of them seriously and going to Homecoming with me, and to all the fans out there who read my fics!!  
  
A big kiss goes out to y'all who continue to read my stuff, and an even bigger kiss goes out to those who REVIEW!! Thanx for all the support and help and inspiration, and thanx for all of my friends. Thanx also to Clamp, the wonderful many-multi-talented ladies who created CCS, therefore giving me something to write a fic about.  
  
Love and Bubbles, Huggles and Handshakes!  
  
Raye Firearrows *(^.^)* 


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